Monoculo's Mistake
by Irual
Summary: This story happens about two months before Hexes and Vexes. Darkwing and Morgana visit Castle Macabre and Lucidia Macabre discovers that there truly are 'no such things' as accidents. Please read & Review rating is T just to be safe
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Disney owns all the characters and places and concepts used in Darkwing Duck. I am just using them for fun and hope you like reading what was in my head now that I have gotten it out. This story takes place about two months or so before my fan fiction called Hexes & Vexes and is kind of a back story explanation as to why some things are happening in Hexes & vexes. You don't have to have read that story to enjoy this one though. Please read and review and thank you.

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Exhaustion was finally taking its toll; unable to force himself to stay awake any longer Darkwing sagged miserably against the huge pane of glass in the window at the top of the tower lair. His hands trembled with fatigue and he felt as though he was moving in a tub of molasses but the caped and masked figure refused to move to the bed that lay just behind him.

Grimacing he locked his knees and braced himself against the cool glass. He knew that fatigue poisons were building in his body and were contributing to irrational thinking and lack of coordination. Logically he knew that his body craved sleep but his emotions insisted that another round of terror induced nightmares was worth avoiding for at least a little while longer.

Launchpad McQuack, Darkwing's loyal sidekick and best friend, watched worriedly from the floor below. His normally good natured and kindly face was creased with unfamiliar worry lines and dark circles lurked under his eyes.

Coming to a decision he reached carefully into the Ratcatcher's engine and removed the couplings and wiring that stated the engine. Then he quietly drained the gas tank into a portable gas can and locked it in with the supply of jet fuel making sure to take all the keys. He then hit the failsafe on the Thunderquack and set the security code so that no one could start it.

Launchpad knew that if Darkwing realized what he had done he would be angry, but it was better than him killing himself driving the motorcycle in his condition, or worse trying to fly the plane. Darkwing had never learned to pilot an airplane but with him getting so little rest and even less sleep for the past week it was better not to take chances.

Launchpad went carefully up to the circular platform where Darkwing leaned in the window and said quietly," Do you need anything DW?"

Darkwing jerked visibly and said in a tired voice," No LP, listen just because I can't sleep doesn't mean you have to stay awake. Why don't you go home and check on Gosalyn? I checked on her about two hours ago but I'd feel better if someone was home with her.

Launchpad grimaced a little and decided to try and convince Darkwing to at least try to get some sleep." Why don't you come home with me and we can both check on her. You know she never really sleeps unless you are there. She just lies in the bed until you are home."

Darkwing's mouth trembled as he answered," I did remember that LP, That's why I checked on her earlier I don't want to wake her up with my screaming again. It's harder on her than it is on me. I'm her father. She should be able to count on me to be strong for her. But I can't seem to fight this."

Launchpad sighed and answered," You are strong DW. Everyone needs help sometimes; maybe you should try another sleeping pill or some… ERK!"

Launchpad found his sentence and his breath abruptly cut off for just a moment as Darkwing leaped towards him and grabbed his scarf temporarily choking him.

In a desperate whisper Darkwing hissed, "NO! I'll go insane if I do that again, if I am drugged I can't wake up! I have to wake up Launchpad! Otherwise I forget that I can see and hear and breathe."

Just as suddenly Darkwing looks at his hands that are pulling on Launchpad's scarf and he realizes what he is doing. Abruptly he lets go as though the soft cashmere scarf was razor edged and white hot.

He staggers backward as though drunk and falls onto the bed.'" I'm Sorry, LP." Darkwing manages whispering, he looks up at his friend fearfully. "I would never hurt you, but I am getting too dangerous to be around. It would be better if you let me stay here tonight okay?"

Launchpad has recovered his composure but he stares in shock as Darkwing takes out a pair of handcuffs from his jacket and firmly locks his right wrist onto the bed frame.

Darkwing takes the key and tosses it to Launchpad and says quietly." I'll get through the next few hours and you can get Gosalyn off to school for me and then come check on me. I'll try and sleep I promise. But I don't dare go home while I'm so on edge. I can't be sure I won't sleepwalk or something if I am home but this way at least I should stay here." Darkwing reaches into his jacket again and throws his gas gun to the edge of the platform and follows this with his buzz saw cufflinks.

Really frightened for Darkwing now LP nods and tells his friend." Don't you worry DW I'll get Gosalyn to school for you but she will be really upset when you are not there in the morning. What do I tell her? "

Darkwing sighed and admitted. " I don't know Launchpad, just be sure she goes to school and doesn't come here okay? I don't want her to see me chained up like a rabid dog, even though I feel like one."

Launchpad carefully picked up the blanket that had fallen on the floor and spread it over the bed." No Problemo DW. It's the end of February and the tower isn't the warmest place Darkwing, at least try and stay covered okay? You don't need pneumonia on top of everything else."

Darkwing didn't answer instead he turned to face the window as if to find an answer in the starry sky but he snuggled under the blanket and as Launchpad left he heard, "Thanks Launchpad, you were right, every hero needs a sidekick to help them."

Launchpad smiled sadly and moved to the spinning chairs that would take him to their civilian home and punched the head of the little statue of Basil the great mouse detective to activate the mechanism. He was going to have to hurry if he was going to get DW any help before Gosalyn woke up and wanted to know where her dad was.

Unfortunately he didn't have a lot of time to waste either, even though he was tired, he had to do something. Darkwing was really out of it, Gosalyn was not going to school tomorrow regardless of what Drake wanted, it was Saturday. Darkwing had lost track of time before but not like this. Even if he was wrapped up in a case or something he always remembered Gosalyn's schedule and she was always his priority on Saturdays.

The only exceptions had been if he was out of town for S.H.U.S.H. But usually Gosalyn had wheedled her way into coming along for those trips. Launchpad had privately figured that Darkwing let her come along on those trips rather than leave her behind all alone, unless he did something drastic; tomorrow was going to be the first time she woke up without her dad on a Saturday since he'd adopted her.

In a frightened moment of honesty Launchpad admitted to himself that if they didn't figure something out soon Darkwing was likely going to be locked up somewhere by S.H.U.S.H. because he was too dangerous to leave on his own, he might become a danger to himself and others if they didn't figure out what was going on and fix it.

Launchpad refused to even think that there might not be a fix. As far as S.H.U.S.H. knew this was just a case of insomnia, that was why Dr. Bellum had prescribed a sleeping aid; but after the one disastrous attempt at using it Drake had refused to go back to S.H.U.S.H. So that limited their options for help.

Launchpad knew that something had happened when Darkwing had gone with Morgana to her family's castle right around Valentines Day but he hadn't told him any particulars.

It was right after they got back though that these screaming fits and night terrors had begun. Drake had insisted that Morgana wasn't to blame when Launchpad had brought up the facts earlier in the week. But this was getting them nowhere fast. Launchpad needed some answers and he only knew one place to start looking for them.

Launchpad backed the station wagon out of the driveway and headed out over the Audubon bay bridge hoping for once in his life not to crash as he headed towards the area of town where Morgana Macabre's house usually sat.

His luck was in, it hadn't moved from the last time He'd been here. This, come to think of it; was right before DW had started having all the trouble sleeping. He parked the car carefully and put the keys in his jacket pocket. By now he was carrying so many sets of keys that he jingled like a department store elf at Christmas.

He carefully made sure his pockets were securely zippered and started for the gate in the gothic style spiked iron fence that surrounded the spooky house. He gulped and shook as he gazed though the bars and saw at least a dozen flying figures swooping and diving all around the house, especially in the region of the roof and top two floors. He was very glad to see that there were lights on in two windows which meant that more likely than not Morgana was home.

Gathering his courage he opened the gate and started resolutely for the front door. The distorted figures of the Gargoyles that came diving for him were very unnerving but what was even worse was that they were yelling threats and taking pot shots at him. Launchpad could feel the wind ruffle his scarf as they came closer and closer to connecting with vicious claws and beaks. He almost had to stop but he remembered how serious his mission was and kept going down the path.

DW had explained that as long as he stayed on the path and headed for the front door the houses defenses would probably let him get that far since Morgana was trying to learn about the Normal side of life and had subscribed to the St. Canard Chronicle and allowed the meter readers and delivery men access to the yard.

"Okay Launchpad," He said to himself. "You can do this, DW comes here often and Morgana knows you. Darkwing needs help and he has already refused to take the sleeping medication the S.H.U.S.H. medical team prescribed for him. He can't keep on much longer. If he won't accept help from science maybe magic can offer some relief, or at least if Morgana knows he's sick she might be able to help me convince him to accept help."

With this little pep talk he began to advance toward the house shaking in his boots as he went.

Launchpad groaned in fear as a particularly scary gargoyle nearly took his aviators cap off his head but he ducked and ran for the porch instead of the gate. To his relief the porch stayed as still as any porch normally would and he reached the front door without incident. He gathered his courage and started to knock but the door swung open to reveal the dark entryway of Morgana's house.

Gulping Launchpad stepped inside," Hello?" He inquired nervously. "Morgana, I mean Miss Macabre, are you home?"

Old fashioned oil lamps flared to life one by one going down the hallway and not really having any other choice Launchpad followed their somewhat cheery light further into the house.

He soon arrived in what could only be Morgana's kitchen. It was an eclectic mix of styles from the old fashioned wood burning stove in one corner to the microwave and coffee maker on the counter. If the situation hadn't worried him so Launchpad would have stopped to wonder why Morgana had electric appliances mixed with such old technology. But for now the only thing he saw was an exhausted looking Morgana sitting at her huge kitchen table spilling more tea on herself than she was getting into her mouth.

Launchpad's instincts had gotten him this far, but confronted with the reality of trying to explain what was happening to Morgana who was looking pretty bad herself; Launchpad stopped short, uncertain of where to begin and suddenly not sure if he could.

He felt something fuzzy and looked down to see a HUGE spider crawling on his boot. "AAAAAHHHHH!" Launchpad screamed in panic flailing his arms and trying to throw the spider off his foot. Morgana jerked and dropped her tea cup which shattered on the floor. She looked up and Launchpad forgot all about the spider as he took in the sight of Morgana's face. Her normally pale skin and creamy white feathers usually gave her a stunningly clean look but now it only served as a backdrop for an appalling display of ill health.

She had dark circles under her eyes that looked like bruises and her whole body seemed to be undergoing slight tremors as she looked up at him from her seat.

Speaking in barely above a whisper she said. "Please Launchpad, its Archie. He won't hurt you, calm down."

Archie grumbled and stalked over to the table carefully mincing his way around the fragments of china and the spilled tea, shaking each foot fussily to get rid of any lingering trace of wetness as he went.

Launchpad began to giggle helplessly as he watched. All he could picture was a recent TV infomercial that had featured a machine that bathed cats. His own exhaustion was catching up to him but when he looked at Morgana again his hilarity faded into fear and hopelessness.

He knelt beside the table and began to wipe up the mess on the floor with a towel he got off of a rack on the wall. As he swept the bits of china into it he noticed it was a black towel with a spider web design in yellow woven into it.

He began hesitantly," Umm I am sorry to barge in on you like this Morgana, but I was hoping you could help me. See I didn't realize that you were feeling sick too and…."

Eek and Squeek had just fluttered over to Morgana with a warm shoulder wrap and had placed it around her when his statement caused her to look at him penetratingly.

Launchpad stuttered a little and continued, "Its DW he hasn't had much sleep or rest in days and he sees things that aren't there. He doesn't eat and can't keep down what he does try to swallow, it's like he's on drugs or something and when he does sleep it's the most horrible nightmares about being trapped without any senses…."

Launchpad shuddered and a tear escaped his eyes to run unnoticed down his cheek feathers. "He says it's nothing you did Morgana and I believe him. But he hasn't been the same since you two came back from your trip. Please tell me what happened, if I know maybe I can help him."

Morgana visibly gathered herself and stood up. Launchpad realized then that she was wearing what looked like a long sleeved black pajama set with bell bottomed pants and a robe.

He blushed and stammered, "Ah maybe you should get dressed first."

Morgana sighed and said in a much louder and firmer voice, "I am glad you came to me Launchpad. If I had known Dark was going to shut me out I'd have insisted he stay here, at least for a night or so, just to make sure he was alright. But he's stubborn and he wanted to get back to you and Gosalyn and after what happened I didn't feel I could insist he stay away from the other two people he loves."

Morgana went to the pantry beside her stove and began taking several bottles out and packing them into a small carryall. It had two main compartments one had frost all along the inside and the other steamed when she opened it. "I'll explain when we get to Dark Launchpad. I didn't even realize that I was reacting to Drake's experiences until you came. When you were outside I thought at first you were him. The only time I can reach him from a distance right now is when he's asleep and when the nightmares start he shuts me out."

Launchpad looked amazed and then angry." If you knew this was happening why didn't you say anything? If you can fix him why didn't you help days ago?"

Morgana finished her packing by going to a cabinet beside the towel rack and taking out two rectangular boxes one was made of a dark mahogany wood and the other of ebony. Both of them were closed with intricate metal clasps and had beautiful inlayed designs all over them.

She handed the two of them to Launchpad who carried them uncomprehendingly as he ranted. She turned around to face him and the look on her face shut him up far more effectively than any threat of lightning bolts or arcane spell craft.

Her beautiful green eyes had filled with tears that spilled over and ran unchecked down her face and the raw pain and need there froze him in his tracks until she went to the doorway of the kitchen and spoke commandingly to her familiars.

Eek and Squeek fluttered over to her with the dark green wrap and draped it over her shoulders while Archie clambered onto Launchpad ignoring his twitching to sit on his cap.

Taking a deep breath she focused her will and magic on the doorway and said, "Archie make sure Launchpad doesn't get separated from us when we step through. Launchpad I know you don't trust me much but believe me when I say I couldn't help Dark until I was asked. He still may not let me help, but thanks to you, now I can at least try. Eek, Squeek I can see Dark, He's lying down somewhere."

Launchpad interrupted, "He's handcuffed in the tower Morgana."

She stared at him in shock and demanded incredulously, "You tied him up?"

Launchpad hurriedly explained as the sorrow in her face was replaced by anger," No, no. He tied himself up so he couldn't hurt anyone. His thinking is getting messed up. He doesn't even know tomorrow is Saturday. He handcuffed himself to the old bed in the tower so he couldn't wander off or anything, It wasn't my idea really."

He hadn't thought that Morgana could look worse but suddenly she did. Then she turned to look into the doorway he had just come in and raised her hands. She gestured as Eek chirped encouragingly. With a flick of her hand swirls of multicolored energy began to appear in the doorway. Morgana looked so tired and worn that Launchpad moved to support her as she worked to summon a portal.

His generous nature and kind heart made it so he was unable to keep from helping someone in need and after seeing Morgana's reaction to Darkwing's pain he couldn't deny she needed help as much as Darkwing did.

She leaned gratefully into his hold and said," Think about Dark Launchpad, Think about getting to the tower and helping him then take my right hand and don't let go. The energy in the doorway turned opalescent and vague shapes appeared that showed the outlines of the towers contents. Morgana nodded and said," Alright Launchpad, step into the portal and try not to worry."

Immediately after stepping through the doorway Launchpad found himself once again in the tower He felt Morgana behind him and when he turned around the portal was gone. Morgana took a deep breath and straightened as she looked around. "Where is he Launchpad?" She asked urgently.

Launchpad gestured to the upper part of the lair and Morgana hurried up the staircase to the bed where Darkwing tossed restlessly. She sat carefully on the small stool beside the bed and reached to touch Darkwing on the forehead. He jerked awake and looked panicked until he realized where he was and saw Launchpad and Morgana.

Dark stared uncomprehendingly at Morgana and finally said." Morg, what are you doing here? It is you isn't it?" His voice held a note of uncertainty and he reached cautiously to touch her face.

She leaned into the caress and said softly. "Yes Dark, it's me."

Archie took the opportunity to climb onto the headboard of the bed and quietly waited his chance. While Eek and Squeek fluttered all around the large open space of the tower their chirps and squeaks sounding louder than usual as they echoed off the equipment and walls.

Morgana gasped as she felt a strange tingling rushing through her body, suddenly she felt a lot better. Her shaking stopped for the first time in two days. As Dark caressed her check she relaxed against him as a feeling of wellbeing surged from deep inside.

Drake jerked as he felt a rush of energy hit him like putting his finger in a light socket. He suddenly felt a lot clearer headed. Still exhausted, but now able to think at least a little; he started to sit up and felt his wrist pull against the cuff of the restraint.

Morgana winced and asked. "Wait Dark, Launchpad; would you free him for me while I get something from my bag please?"

Suddenly feeling a lot better about the situation himself, Launchpad hurried forward to open the cuff with the keys. "Sure thing Morgana, don't you worry now DW we'll have you fixed up in no time, He, heh, he."

Morgana got one of the potions from the steaming compartment in her bag and calmly began to pour a little on her hands and then smoothed them over her dark green wrap. Launchpad looked surprised.

Darkwing watched for a moment and said firmly. "Morgana, I can't stand being drugged asleep."

He trembled and admitted. "I already tried a sleeping pill and I thought I was back at Castle Macabre when I couldn't wake up."

Morgana calmly finished coating the soft material with the warm potion and said simply. "Dark, No… Drake."

She turned and very gently offered her hand to him. "I have NEVER regretted anything I have ever done as much as I regret having trusted my kin with the person that means the most to me on this side of death."

Darkwing looked startled and took a breath." I know you didn't intend for me to get hurt Morgana, and I know you and Archie and Eek and Squeek risked everything to free me and help me keep my mind and my life. I didn't mean…."

She interrupted quietly cutting off his desperate sentences. "Will you trust me? Please…?" She held her hand out again.

Taking a deep breath Darkwing accepted her hand and said "I always knew there was goodness inside you Morgana. I knew it from the second we met; it's me I don't trust. If I lose it I'll hurt someone I love. If I didn't know it would cost me Gosalyn I'd turn myself in and let S.H.U.S.H. lock me up."

He sighed and continued in a raspier voice. His earlier flash of energy leaving as quickly as it had come. "That's why I wanted to leave your house as quickly as I could. I knew I would need time to block off the memories and I didn't want to hurt you. And besides," He glanced sadly at Launchpad shivering slightly, "I wanted to make sure Gos and LP were alright."

She sighed as a tear slid down her cheek feathers. His hand was icy cold and she could see him trembling. "Dark darling listen to me, I promise that I am not going to keep you asleep with any kind of potion or spell. You are having a physical reaction to your lack of sleep."

Archie grumbled at Morgana. '_Morgana, It's not just physical; he needs your help and not just a potion or two. You need him too, just get him warmer and remember to touch him. I'll help him avoid the nightmares, he's gotten so he expects to have them and I can divert his memory to something less frightening as long as you are physically touching him.' _

Eek and Squeek both clung to the underside of one of the Thunderquack's wings and waited for developments, Archie would need their help all too soon.

Sitting carefully on the side of the bed, she tucked him into the covers and slid her wrap around him. "Try and relax Dark. I am right here and so is Launchpad. We won't let you hurt anyone, not even yourself."

She leaned against him and to her delight he put an arm around her and leaned back against her returning the caress. " Please don't cry, I'm really tired Morg. What am I going to do?"

Deciding that he was feeling way too sorry for himself she decided to try and shake him out of his melancholy by taking charge just a little. Drake needed someone to take care of him when he was like this and poor Launchpad wasn't used to being responsible for Darkwing's emotions.

When they faced physical threats or some outside responsibility, then Launchpad had his own store of wisdom and was far better at managing Darkwing than anyone else in his life, but when he had these kinds of personal or emotional funks, Launchpad was as lost and confused as Dark appeared to be.

Launchpad's own mental and emotional state was naturally positive and good-natured and his upbringing had only reinforced this so having to try and sort out the kinds of fears and insecurities that Drake lived with was something foreign to the gentle and laid back duck.

Morgana spoke quietly. "Well, first you are going to try and relax and Launchpad is going to sit down before he falls down."

She looked significantly at Launchpad who was standing quietly beside the bed until he was herded onto one of the chairs by the computer console by her bats. Eek and Squeek pulled the chair on it's rollers over to the bed. They chirped and squeaked optimistically, landing temporarily on Launchpad before moving onto Morgana's hairdo.

Giving Launchpad an encouraging smile she snuggled close to Dark and used her mage senses to feel for his mind and body the same way she had when they had been at Castle Macabre last week.

She continued calmly in a no nonsense tone, "Then, I want you to close your eyes and let the potion on my wrap help you thaw out. Your body temperature is fluctuating and so is your energy."

Carefully she closed her eyes and extended herself gently hoping that Dark would let her in.

Darkwing for his part, felt uncertain but he didn't have much of a choice. Ever since he'd first seen Morgana she had been able to mesmerize him and having the woman he loved cuddling up with him on the bed was making his every nerve ending react.

His hormonal reactions, combined with his fatigue meant that the only way he could have objected would have been if she had set him on fire literally; instead of from inside.

Hesitantly he relaxed against her and just as before, he felt as though they were somehow a matching pair now that they were together again. All his supposed logic and determination melted in the face of that feeling of belonging with her.

Squeek was very careful not to tickle Darkwing as he crawled over the wrap around his back and emerged under his chin. He purred very softly hoping to encourage Drake to relax his defenses and trust them. Eek chirped and snuggled under Morgana's chin as she waited to see if Dark was going to let her in.

Eek spoke to her encouragingly._ 'It might help both of you to work through this if you tell Launchpad what happened. Drake needs to put this behind him and you need to forgive yourself.'_

Squeek added sympathetically._' He doesn't blame you, you know. You should try and stop blaming yourself.' _

Archie meanwhile slid down a filament of webbing and crawled quietly onto the pillow and moved carefully up Morgana's back so he could reach the shoulder of Darkwing's jacket without stepping on any of his feathers. Sitting quietly at the junction of Darkwing's neck and the collar of his teal turtleneck Archie was inundated with the different emotional residues imprinted on the short duck's psyche.

He waited while his senses sorted out the ties between his mistress and her other half, because like it or not that was what they were to one another; now more than ever.

Usually this kind of bonding happened to Mage born officially with ceremonies and such over time. In the rush to save Drake from madness and to keep Morgana from crippling herself along with him, Archie realized that the three familiars and the two lovebirds; had in fact forged deep ties between the two of them. They now had to work on developing and strengthening their bonds, which would require a lot of effort on all their parts to sort everything out and make sure that both of them understood what had happened.

Careful not to vocalize at all so as not to frighten Drake, Archie sent privately to Eek and Squeek. _'They are going to be connected at least a little from now on I'm afraid… This is getting WAY too complicated. They have their emotional ties from their feelings but it manifests in mental and magical channels now too.' _

Eek added calmly._' We know, Drake is just as receptive as Morgana to those energies now even though he hasn't a clue, If you recall we didn't have a lot of choices. We HAD to reach his mind before he gave up and surrendered to madness and despair….'_

Squeek chimed in from his place next to Eek. _'They can still choose you know, we just have to try and get them to realize what we did and the consequences to themselves and each other. Morgana will be easier once she gets over her guilt and we can influence her to recognize what has happened as they get more comfortable with each other.'_

Eek offered eagerly._ 'There are several advantages to this you know. Once they learn to help each other, Morgana will be able to defend him from hostile magic and he can feed her power so she won't have the kinds of dangerous physical, mental and emotional complications that she did after that whole Lafayette thing in high school. This way if they work together they will balance each other very nicely.'_

Ever practical Archie demanded._' And what if they choose to stay far, far away from each other hmmm? Or what if they get all stubborn and refuse to listen? We can't even talk to Drake properly. He's almost as head blind as a magical null even though he channels and receives power now. And he's at least as stubborn and temperamental as Morgana in his own way. And not only that but…'_

Not particularly wanting to hear Archie complain and panic over things that couldn't be helped or that hadn't happened yet, Eek and Squeek silenced him by saying._' We could have chosen to let him die from the inside out you know. There would have been very little inquiry other than his child and soul brother. Consider this though, if we had turned away, what kind of creatures would we have chosen to become and what sort of monster would Morgana be with most of her heart dead?'_

Just as practical in their own ways as the much more conservative and grumpy spider they already knew the answer. Archie silently acknowledged their point and admitted._' We would have changed beyond all recondition and so would Morgana, and not for the better.' _

Suddenly a bit more cheerful he added. _' At least her kin are unlikely to offer anymore interference, magical or otherwise. Not unless they want to be disenchanted.'_

Morgana was very uncomfortable facing what had happened but she knew her familiars were offering good advice. Drake breathed deeply and relaxed into the bed while a soothing purring buzzed through his body. He felt the same sort of mental nudge that he had come to recognize as Morgana using her mage senses to reach him and opened his eyes sleepily.

Feeling himself thawing out, he felt his thoughts slowing down. The tenseness that was his nervous reaction to anticipating another nightmare faded and he snuggled next to Morgana. He could almost see her inside his head, but not in a bad way.

The last time he'd seen her like that she had been helping him escape Monoculo's spell. This time it was as though she was telling a bedtime story because she began to speak quietly both in his head and out loud to Launchpad who was riveted in his seat. Unable to stay awake Drake fell into the first restful sleep he'd had in at least a week listening to his best friend and the woman he loved.

_Here is the introduction I hope the set up is intriguing and I will post chapter 2 as soon as I can. Please enjoy and review if possible I would like to know if people want to read more. Thank you, Your friend Irual _


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: All the characters from Darkwing Duck's cartoon belong to Disney; I am only borrowing them for fun and not for money. This story takes place about 2 months before Hexes & Vexes and just after most of the cartoon episodes. Almost all of Morgana's relatives belong to Disney but Lucidia Macabre, Charity, Envy and Spite are my characters. Enjoy and review if you like, and even if you don't like; as long as it's helpful all responses are welcome your friend Irual _

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Morgana made a gentle gesture and Launchpad found he was now holding a huge mug of what tasted like homemade hot chocolate with teeny little marshmallows and he had a pillow behind him to make the console chair he was sitting in a little more comfy.

She spoke to Launchpad and said, "I think you deserve to know what happened to us Launchpad. You and Gosalyn love Drake as much as I do."

She looked distinctly guilty and added. "I'd rather not tell Gosalyn, until Dark decides she needs to know."

She smiled down at the peaceful face next to her and said quietly, "It was Valentines Day, NOT really a day we have a great history with I'm afraid. Dark had asked me to meet him here in the tower."

"I admit, I was hoping to go on a romantic date since this was only our second Valentine's together. The atmosphere here IS delightful; especially at night. All these subdued lights, the chill in the air, the delicious shadows and of course the view is one of the best in all of St. Canard."

She continued, "When I got here he was dressed in a new costume, pressed and polished to within an inch of his feathers. I honestly thought that I might have underdressed since he had asked me to just wear one of my everyday gowns."

She continued calmly, "He was really nervous and I wondered if maybe he was uncomfortable because it was Valentines. To my surprise; he explained that he had found a place to go on a special date, that he thought I would love and had been trying to get a table for us for weeks. He even tried as both Drake and as Darkwing and the restaurant had been completely booked for over two months with a waiting list for cancellations, particularly for Valentines Day."

Archie listened with half an ear as Morgana's narrative continued but most of his attention was within Drake. With Morgana there in Drake's mind with him, Archie had a way in and he was watching to make sure the reoccurring nightmares that Dark dreaded were not allowed to manifest.

Morgana continued while Eek snuggled onto the pillow with his head on Morgana's wrist as she held one of Darkwing's hands. "Even though Darkwing's media reputation is rather dubious here in St. Canard, one of the sous-chefs at this mysterious place made reservations for us to have dinner on February sixteenth. It was the closest thing he could get to Valentines Day."

A note of fond pride was in her voice now as she recalled the details, "It turns out that several of the staff that works there are originally from St. Canard and the sous-chef was making a deposit when Dark stopped a bank robbery by Liquidator. He was one of the customers Darkwing kept safe until the police could get them out. I admit I was a little apprehensive, Dark is used to such strange foods…full of fat and sugar and processed chemicals and such."

Morgana glanced up from her contemplation of Drake to see Launchpad's reaction and saw that he was listening attentively. "I was really delighted and impressed when he told me this mysterious date was to be at 'The Aviary' an exclusive restaurant in Duckburg. It specializes in natural, healthy, gourmet cuisine, Dark was very unhappy that he had been unable to get us in for the actual night of Valentines."

Blushing a little at the memory and smiling she divulged, "I did my best to ease his unhappiness; we had a very good time too. I have to admit that I was really looking forward to our official date; particularly since Dark had been trying so hard to take me there."

Launchpad grinned and said softly, "I remember that, DW was determined that this date was going to be special for you. He even swallowed his pride and asked Gizmoduck if he could get a reservation when the Maitre d told Darkwing there was nothing available."

He shook his head and continued, "Poor Fenton hated to disappoint Drake, but he doesn't use Gizmoduck's reputation for personal things. He says it's too easy to abuse people if he starts that, and Fenton Crackshell couldn't get a reservation for Scrooge McDuck, much less for Darkwing."

Launchpad grinned as he admitted, "DW was really sweating; it was right after that though that Drake got the call confirming the private table on Saturday night. Drake was ecstatic other than he didn't know exactly how to explain to you about not having much of anything arranged for the fourteenth."

Morgana smiled gently looking a little sad and nodded, "I didn't realize just how anxious Drake gets about my reactions until then. I just get so frustrated being from a different culture than almost all the people around me. Most of the time, it doesn't bother me. But when Dark acts like I'm trying to poison him, just because I want to share the food I grew up with; it just makes me SO upset I tend to overreact especially since he can't defend himself from my magic."

Looking calmer she continued, "My monster inspired cuisine is popular at the Shadow Chateau. You like my Spider Pie and the Candied Worms Launchpad. I just don't remember Dark's a Normal until he says or does something blockheaded and insensitive and then I react instead of think. I really HATE myself for hurting him, now more than ever."

Drake stirred a little but Squeek hummed soothingly and he quieted. Archie meanwhile waited and as Drake's fear began to take hold of him; Archie turned his memory from his being trapped in Monoculo's spell, to the one of his being safely rescued by Morgana and her familiars. It wasn't a perfect solution, but for the time being it would have to do.

Sending privately to Eek and Squeek he said _'If Drake wakes up before Morgana's done I hope he will talk about his memories to them. It will help both him and Morgana to put this behind them if he does.'_

She stroked Archie as he crouched on Dark's jacket saying, "Our dinner was wonderful. Dark and I both liked it and we didn't fight at all. I even had a premonition that maybe Dark would come with me to Castle Macabre."

She explained, "I have always returned home in Second Month since I don't live at home anymore. When I asked him to come with me, he seemed reluctant but when I told him that I wanted him to be with me for a special personal reason, and that we wouldn't stay long he agreed."

---

Launchpad shifted in his chair remembering the after effects of that date. He had agreed to stay home and keep an eye or two on Gosalyn since Drake had no idea how long he would be out. If he and Morgana fought DW would be stuck there until Launchpad came to get him since they were using one of Morgana's portals to get there.

Duckburg was only about half an hour away by jet, but his motorcycle The Ratcatcher would take several hours to travel to and from the restaurant. Besides, a sidecar wasn't really the best place for a well dressed lady to ride to a formal dinner; so he had agreed to the whole portal thing.

Gosalyn had been irritated and frustrated by the time her dad was going to leave to go to Morgana's. She said, "Geez Dad…What is with you anyway? You have fussed with your hat and jacket for ten minutes."

Blushing Drake had replied, "Never you mind little missy. I just want tonight to be really special."

Grinning Gosalyn had added, "You mean you are glad you aren't eating her food right Dad? It's actually pretty good, how come you don't even try it? You are always trying to make me try vegetables and stuff but you go out of your way to avoid Morgana's food."

Sighing DW had answered slowly, "It's complicated Gos…. When I can get past what it is made out of and swallow it most of the time it stays down. Some of it even tastes okay as long as I don't think about it."

Straightening his hat one last time, he went to the refrigerator and got out a small bouquet of pale coral colored roses. "I know that when just the names of the dishes bother me then I have a problem I need to get over."

He shuddered a little and admitted unhappily, "The stuff that looks like a green fried egg and moves though, it makes me sick for at least a couple of days after I force it down. I just can't seem to digest whatever she seasons it with or something. Whenever I try and explain to her about how some of her dishes don't agree with me though, I offend her somehow. I don't understand it, no matter how much I practice and rehearse how to tell her about that kind of thing it just seems to come out in the worst possible way."

Sympathetically Launchpad had offered, "Maybe if you said it to her without the grossed out expression and ate some of her other stuff with enthusiasm she'd be a lot less offended when there is something you can't stomach DW."

Drake had winced but he HAD admitted that Launchpad most likely had a point. Then he had gone off to his date which evidently had gone great from his point of view as well as Morgana's since Drake had come back at about three in the morning fairly glowing with happiness.

The next day though he'd told them about going to Castle Macabre and Gosalyn had pouted for hours because she wasn't allowed to ask if she could come. She had enthused for days about their visit last time because she had gotten to be an actual monster for almost the whole visit. Honestly though that was the main reason Drake DIDN'T want her or Launchpad to come.

If Morgana's dad spelled them, he was powerful enough that as far as Drake knew only he could change them back and Drake didn't want to chance anything semi permanent happening to either of them. Launchpad reflected sorrowfully that as it turned out, it had been for the best though since DW and Morgana had been having problems since their return.

---

A tear escaped Morgana's control as she trembled remembering what had happened next but taking a deep breath she continued. Her narrative took on a much more detailed sense as her emotions and her magic took over and Launchpad suddenly could see and hear everything just as if he had accompanied them on their trip.

---

Morgana Macabre hummed happily as she went around her gothic style three story (on the outside) house. This year her Darling Dark was going to come with her to visit her family for her Second month visit.

She had been more than a little apprehensive about Dark's reactions to her relatives ever since he and Launchpad and little Gosalyn had accidentally shown up and encountered Daddy who had acted abominably.

He had turned them all into monster-kind and then they had picked on the villagers. Fortunately it had all worked out but Morgana couldn't escape the feeling that the worst was yet to come where the love of her life and her relatives were concerned.

Shaking off the sudden downturn of her mood she set the portal for the monster realm of Transylvania and waited for Dark to show up. Surprisingly, Darkwing was on time for once; no super villains or crises had occurred out of nowhere and he was even dressed in a fresh costume.

Morgana smiled as she let him in the front door and said, "Hello Dark. I'm really glad you are on time."

He smiled up at her looking a little dazed. As he removed his hat; she saw he had a nasty scratch on his left hand, most likely from the doorknocker who had been trying to get a blood link to Darkwing for the last week or so.

The gargoyles were competing to see which of them could mark him too, but since Morgana wanted the defenses to recognize Dark she hadn't objected. As long as they were careful and didn't do him serious harm they were getting a good workout since Dark tended to be a lot more of a challenge than any of her defenses were used to even at Castle Macabre.

She felt a little guilty since she hadn't actually explained anything to Dark about how blood links were used back home, but somehow trying to explain cultural things to Dark never seemed to work out very smoothly. If she was going to be honest she had to admit she tended to let him assume what he wanted so they could avoid fights, even if it tended to lead to occasional misunderstandings.

He blushed shyly, his hormones danced all over his body as she kissed his injury and ushered him inside. Her heart gave a happy thump as she saw his adorable, sensitive, shy side and she asked silently, _'Archie dear, would you wrap Dark's hand please? I don't want to risk his getting an infection and I don't think he's in the right frame of mind to let me use a potion just now.'_

On the way to the portal Archie wrapped Darkwing's hand in webbing to staunch the bleeding. Drake was surprised at this attention from Morgana's familiar but since Archie was on his sleeve at least he didn't tickle much and the webbing DID make an effective bandage.

He saw Morgana lick his blood from her lips as they walked down the hall and he felt his heart lurch a little in spite of the fact that he was very much in love and trusted her.

Nervously he said, "Thanks Archie, Morg…Um; not to upset you or anything but; how long are you planning for us to be gone?"

Morgana turned to look at him in surprise, "I usually spend a few days with my Aunt Lucidia and the rest of the family when I go back home this time of year Dark,"

Looking a little upset she asked, "Why?"

Hurriedly he'd added, "Not that I don't want to be with you of course, but…are you sure your relatives will be okay with my staying in their castle for days?"

Morgana laughed a little and said confidently caressing his head feathers and kissing the top of his head, "You are so CUTE when you worry Dark. Don't fret Sweetums, Daddy will come around and everyone else follows his lead. I'm sure I won't have to insist, but if there is any problem I'll make sure you get back here and home safe even if I have to go back and REASON with them later."

As she added that last bit her voice took on a distinctively strident tone and her expression boded ill for anyone on the receiving end of her 'reasonable' arguments.

Darkwing gulped shaking off the dazed state that tended to hit him whenever Morgana kissed him and made sure his nervousness was hidden as best he could. Morgana took his hand and together they stepped into the portal and came out beside the moat of Castle Macabre.

Drake squawked and dodged frantically as a large tongue slurped him from his mid back all the way up to his hat knocking his grey fedora off his head. Snapping around and drawing his gas gun he came beak to snout with a huge sea serpent. In his panic Darkwing failed to notice that the aforementioned sea serpent had a rather puppy-like expression and that Morgana was looking ominously upset at his reaction.

Morgana said sternly, "DARKWING, What are you doing? That is Sigmund our moat guardian."

Gulping nervously and stuttering just a little Darkwing asked, "Moat guardian, I don't remember a moat guardian Morgana. Is he new?"

Glancing down the impressive thirty foot length of the sea serpent he added sheepishly, "You are a he right?"

Splashing playfully and panting like a puppy, Sigmund licked Darkwing all the way up the front of his costume getting a coating of clear slime all over the front of his jacket that matched the one dripping down his back.

Wiping at his face with a sigh Darkwing put his gas gun carefully back inside his jacket as Morgana cooed to Sigmund. "Ooooooo who's just the sweetest little Sea Serpent ever? Yes you are aren't you?"

Cuddling Sigmund's snout against her she stroked his muzzle and gestured to DW saying in a calmer tone," Come and get properly introduced Dark."

Darkwing hid a flinch and gathering his courage he stepped close and offered a palm to Sigmund who promptly began splashing and thrashing his tail in a playful manner panting excitedly.

Grabbing Darkwing by his cape Sigmund began swimming around and around the moat dangling Dark like a chew toy. Darkwing's cries of protest and a little fear caused several of Morgana's relatives to come to various windows to see what was causing the noise. Morgana meanwhile was calling Sigmund but he was tossing Darkwing up in the air and catching him, usually choking him with his cape in the process; and generally having so much fun with his new toy, that he didn't pay any attention to Morgana.

Cousin Clyde who was a huge linebacker of an avian with a distinctive hayseed vibe walked calmly out the drawbridge and held up what looked suspiciously like a cardboard box of puppy treats. He shook the box enticingly and Sigmund promptly dropped Darkwing head first into the moat and began begging for treats.

Coughing and sputtering Darkwing dragged himself out of the moat wringing out his hat. Seeing that Cousin Clyde was keeping Sigmund busy he tried to be positive and said to Morgana, "At least the moat washed off the Sea Serpent spit and this cape is wash and wear."

Morgana HAD to giggle at that and she used her magic to dry him off with a snap of her fingers. Caressing his shoulder she added "Dark Darling lets go inside and I'll see about getting something to warm you up."

Blushing a little he followed her inside not even reacting to Aunt Nasty who tried to put him in a large roasting pan until Morgana made the pan disappear and shooed her relative away with an irritated look.

Morgana said, "Aunt Nasty DEAR…I've told you Dark is NOT your personal snack and No one is to try to eat him EVER."

With a startled cry Darkwing jumped aside as Uncle Nero charged him wielding an axe. Spinning around Morgana grabbed the axe from him and turned it into a serving tray. Giving it to Aunt Nasty she asked sweetly with a glint of battle in her eyes, " Auntie Dear, would you mind making up a few of your tasty snacks and bringing them to Daddy's study for me? Dark and I are going out onto the grounds for a walk in the twilight and I want to talk to Daddy afterwards."

Aunt Nasty gave her a sour look and complained, "How can I be expected to cook when you keep changing the menu?"

She gestured irritably at Darkwing and continued, "He's going to turn tough and gamey if you put off cooking him too long you know."

Darkwing gulped nervously at that and backed cautiously toward the huge dining table beside the hearth in the great hall. Since he was watching Uncle Nero and Aunt Nasty he failed to notice that the backless bench he was moving towards had occupants. He yipped and flinched spinning around as he nudged someone and realized he'd encountered still more Macabre relations.

He almost panicked as he saw he had in fact disturbed a pair of tall, slender, red haired duck-like Macabres. They were dressed in tie dyed outfits that reminded him of hippies or old music videos. For some reason they looked very similar to each other and surprisingly they reminded him very strongly of Morgana.

Usually her relatives were so different from the people he was used to that he had to remember she was really ¾ monster and just happened to be gorgeous and incredibly sexy. A fact she seemed to take in stride until she came home.

She always seemed to be uncertain about her physical appearance around her family. This frankly confused Darkwing who couldn't imagine WHY she would be insecure, but then he didn't remember ever having relatives growing up, so maybe it was something he just had no references for.

He felt Morgana come up behind him and relaxed a little knowing that most of her family members were reluctant to hurt him in front of Morgana since that was pretty much guaranteed to trigger a usually painful episode of temper.

Smiling in a friendly way the two of them offered carefully. "Hello Normal, We are Envy and Spite."

They looked to be about the same age as Morgana and they both shared her green eyes although Darkwing noticed that theirs were more of a hazel green, while Morgana's were a pure dark beguiling green. The fellow continued, "We have heard a lot about you."

The lady chimed in in an eerily similar voice, "Nothing good of course, Uncle is most put out that his schemes haven't driven you away yet."

Grinning conspiratorially the two of them offered him a seat on the bench, honestly taken aback by their apparent friendliness and their reassuringly normal looks he froze unsure what to do.

On the one hand he didn't want to offend anyone especially not if SOMEONE was finally going to be nice to him, or at least not try and cook him. But on the other hand, anytime he let his guard down something bad usually happened.

Honestly he'd be willing to chance it if it was just him, but with Morgana right there; there was a very good chance she'd end up extremely angry and most likely he'd be the one she got mad at; which he really, really wanted to avoid since their date had gone so well last night.

Morgana gave Dark a reassuring smile and sat down on the bench with him. Envy and Spite promptly sat on either end of the bench bracketing the two of them and Darkwing couldn't help but notice they were eating the moving green egg looking stuff that made him so ill as it worked it's way out of his system whenever he forced himself to eat it.

Gulping unhappily he braced himself as Morgana asked, "Would you like something to eat Dark darling?"

He replied, "No…Thanks Morg, I haven't been working out much lately, and Launchpad and I have been having a lot of fast food so I need to watch my figure. Crime fighters need to be in shape you know."

Hoping he sounded casual and non offensive he held his breath and waited for her reaction. To his relief Morgana didn't get angry instead she cooed, "You're so cute when you say things like that Dark, I'll watch your figure for you."

He blushed a fiery red as she gave him a once over glance and smiled at him. Even worse for his composure was the fact that both Envy and Spite grinned and smirked at this.

Feeling a little guilty Spite offered, "Here you go Dark," and conjured up a cup of what looked and smelled exactly like fresh brewed black coffee.

Envy also looked a little embarrassed and said, "Dark is a nice name. And you are kind of cute for a Normal. Don't worry, that is coffee. We can't oppose Uncle directly, but we don't approve of his schemes so we won't make things worse for you."

Suspiciously Morgana asked, "What do you mean Envy? Why would you say something like that? You and Spite keep up with all the gossip. What has Daddy been up to while I've been gone?"

Looking a little nervous since she was speaking louder now both Envy and Spite made shushing motions and Envy said quietly, "Take it easy Morgana, Uncle hasn't done anything new that we have heard about. We just think that it was kind of unfair of him to sabotage the Normal. That's all, so we decided that if we got the chance we'd be friendly so he wouldn't think we are all going to hurt him, that's all."

Spite nudged Darkwing on the shoulder and started to say something but he was interrupted by the entrance of Cousin Clyde and Sigmund. Sigmund was delighted at having found his new favorite toy again and started to grab Darkwing. Spite headed him off with the moving green stuff by offering the plate full to the Sea Serpent.

Laughing Spite said to Morgana, "You'd better take your duck out for a walk or something unless you want to spend all night fishing him out of the moat. Envy and I will keep Sigmund entertained while you two make your escape."

Morgana sighed and nodded, "Come on Dark…I want someone to meet you tonight and now is as good a time as any."

Eek and Squeek fluttered ahead of them as they went out the side door of the great hall. Archie waited until Darkwing had opened the door for Morgana and then he leaped onto the short mallard making him yip and twitch before following Morgana into the gardens.

---

Monoculo Macabre was in a fairly good mood since it was about time for his darling daughter to make one of her regular visits home, and since his jinx had well and truly taken hold of the Normal pest she insisted on calling her boyfriend; he doubted that buffoon would be a problem much longer.

She might even have given up on him by now. Rubbing his hands together he congratulated himself on being rather clever, if he did say so himself. He had used a very simple and subtle confounding hex to insure that anytime Morgana tried to get Darkwing to eat Monster food he would react badly by either becoming ill or by saying or doing something to insult Morgana's cooking.

Monoculo knew his little girl well, she prided herself on her cooking and she was a very strong advocate of Monster culture especially the cuisine and history of her people. If her precious 'boyfriend' kept objecting to those things Morgana was bound to lose interest sooner or later.

After the last time that, that Normal had barged in during one of Morgana's visits Monoculo had been convinced that the Normal was even more unsuitable than he'd originally feared. Morgana WAS a Macabre though and stubborn, so rather than fight openly with her Monoculo had decided to let the boy dig his own grave so to speak.

If he got the chance he'd hex the Duck again and make sure that he reacted badly to any civilized reference not just food. Morgana wasn't a patient girl, it would vex her to no end and she'd soon rid herself of someone she couldn't share her culture with.

She was young and inexperienced so she likely wouldn't even suspect that he'd interfered and after they broke up for good and she was safely back home he'd remove the hexes just to make sure no one found out.

As he was contemplating these things, and absently going through a list of much more suitable suitors that he would introduce Morgana to once she was rid of that pest; he was surprised by the entrance of Aunt Nasty who was bringing in what looked like a tray of his favorite snacks.

She looked rather put out but set the tray down on the lamp stand beside his desk and said, " Morgana went for a walk in the twilight but she asked me to bring some snacks up here because she want's to talk to you when she comes in."

Monoculo was delighted and after thanking Aunt Nasty he decided to sneak a peek at his little girl and see how she was fairing since she still refused to come home to civilized environs and had been out among the barbaric Normals for months.

He rummaged in his desk and took out several carefully wrapped and sealed envelopes. On one was Morgana's name, he opened it and extracted a few hairs from the locks within the paper and sealed the rest up. Tenderly he replaced everything so that he could activate his mirror on the study wall. When he did he got a huge shock.

His beloved daughter was out in the memorial garden which in all honesty he HAD expected, what he hadn't anticipated at all was the fact that she had that Normal with her! Before anything else registered he got an even bigger shock. The two of them were kissing in the moonlight and beside them was a ghostly figure that looked unmistakably like Charity!

Enraged he shook as he wiped the mirror clearing it of the image. Consumed with a whirlwind of emotions, most of which he refused to identify or admit to he paced and fumed. Self hate and envy ate at him as an emotional tempest crippled his judgment and he began to plot furiously.

---

Meanwhile Morgana had taken Darkwing outside the castle and was walking with him under the stars. Darkwing for his part was mostly besotted by the sight of her walking beside him and being so distracted he didn't really notice their surroundings until they entered some kind of formal garden.

Eek and Squeek fluttered around them, occasionally landing on first one duck and then on the other. Morgana laughed and took Archie off Darkwing after the spider had crawled under his jacket and tickled him unmercifully but since she had done so with a smile and ruffled Darkwing's feathers he was very relaxed as they walked along.

He didn't even think to keep an eye out for danger and didn't realize that Eek and Squeek subtly steered him around dangerous plants and kept him safe as he toddled along after Morgana.

When she took his hand and drew him through the gardens to a particular place he followed along like a little puppy. He was jolted out of his daze by her expression; she looked very solemn and a little apprehensive as she halted in front of some kind of monument.

Taking a deep breath she took both of his hands in hers and looking deeply in his eyes she said, "Dark, there is someone I have been wanting to introduce you to for a while now. I just haven't had the chance to explain to you about her. I usually come home during Second month to visit her and I…."

Darkwing for his part was really getting nervous, for some reason he was having cold chills and he noticed that there was a fine white mist suddenly forming all around them.

Concern for Morgana overrode his nerves as he felt her hands shaking a little. Thinking sitting down might help; he saw a stone bench beside the path and coaxed her onto it.

Sitting beside her he interrupted her gently; freeing his hands for a moment he took off his cape and wrapped it around her. "Morg, love…I'll do anything you want, I'm sorry if I disappoint you or…"

He froze as she smiled but she was looking past him at someone else. He felt a cool touch on the side of his face and turned his head. His eyes bugged and he almost cried out in fear as he realized he was being touched by what certainly looked like a ghost, and one that Hollywoodland would pay a huge special effects budget for at that.

Her spectral form was pale shades of white and grey in the moonlight but she was not actually that scary in spite of the fact that she was as see-through as any movie director could wish for.

Her eyes were gentle but there was steel in her gaze too as she looked at the two of them. She was as slender as Morgana, but much shorter and she looked very Normal to Drake until he saw that she had a long lizard-like tail that moved gracefully as though balancing her as she floated beside him.

He couldn't be certain since her bottom half tended to be indistinct but for some reason he didn't think she had webbed feet either, but she also had Morgana's delicate beak and large luminous eyes which he could swear were laughing good naturedly at him as he struggled not to freak out.

Fortunately before he could react badly he heard a gentle, hollow sounding, female voice say, "It's alright Drake, I won't hold your reaction against you and you won't offend me. Morgana, dear…I was going to wait until you explained a little more clearly, but my time is short and I wanted to talk to you both before I go."

Morgana stood up and reached for the ghost who smiled and said gently grasping her hands, "I love you daughter mine, but you are in danger of making a grave error in your relationship with this fine young duck. He can't possibly accept Monster culture without knowing the proper references. He just wasn't raised here and it isn't right of you to hold that against him."

Turning slightly she faced the now slack jawed Drake and very gently Morgana closed his beak for him as her Mother continued. "As for you young male, passion isn't enough for a permanent relationship, it's only the starting place. If you really love Morgana then the two of you are going to have to compromise a lot. Being from different cultures isn't and insurmountable obstacle but it IS one you will have to work at all the time. The two of you are stubborn enough to make it work, but it will be just that…work."

Smiling much broader now she asked them, " So now that that is out of the way, and I have had my chance at offering motherly wisdom there IS something I'd like for you two to do for me before I have to go if you don't mind that is."

Surprised Morgana asked concerned, "Is something wrong Mother? Why are you in such a hurry to go?"

Feeling totally out of his depth now Drake managed to say, "She's…Morgana, Um,"

Shaking off his confusion Drake realized that this was his chance to prove he was serious about their relationship to Morgana and to himself so he forced himself to stop babbling and asked as loudly and confidently as he could (which was actually almost normally but not quite as loudly as his usual voice); "What do you want us to do please?"

Morgana's Mother, Charity Charivari Macabre patted him on the head saying, "I like you Drake, when you think of the people you love instead of yourself, you are very generous and you can get to the meat of the matter swiftly when you put aside your ego."

Looking sad she answered Morgana, "I won't be able to come back for a very long time baby, but don't you worry, I will be watching over you as best I may. The light calls me so strongly now that I can't resist it much longer. I so wanted to be with you as you grew that I stayed well past my time. But now that you have finally started to heal, I can go on and be at peace."

An almost furtive look came over her features as she asked, "Before I do go though, I'd like to see the two of you kiss here in the moonlight, I have always been a romantic at heart and I'd like to keep that image with me."

Startled at this request Darkwing turned to Morgana who was crying silently. He moved to her and carefully wiped her tears away. Since she had collapsed back on the bench she was easily reachable as he stood in front of her. "Morgana, Honey-Wompus, I can't stand to see you cry. Please, let me comfort you."

Trembling she reached for him and drew him into a passionate kiss closing her eyes so she wouldn't see her mother's ghost fade away. Because Morgana closed her eyes she missed seeing her mother's expression of regret and neither of them heard her whisper, "I'm sorry sweetling, but what is meant to be must be, and I really am overdue."

Afterwards Morgana told Darkwing how her mother had appeared to her often as a small child and then less and less frequently but that she had never appeared when anyone else was around until now.

Smiling a little she offered, "I need to talk to Daddy Dark, he is stubborn but so am I and I am not willing to give you up. When we get home I'll need you to explain to me about Normal houses and jobs and things and I want to teach you about Monsters and Mage born alright? I'll even get a coffee maker so I can learn to make you that brew you like so much."

Stunned by this offer Darkwing nodded eagerly; since he was temporarily dumbstruck the jinx making him say and do insulting things was temporarily stymied.

Thinking clearly for the first time in weeks about his relationship with Morgana, Drake knew then that he needed to talk to Archie and Eek and Squeek, if anyone could help him get used to weird scary things it would be them.

Morgana felt her sadness ease as she watched her Dark scoop up Archie and gently place him on her dress. Then he put his cape back around her shoulders and offered, "I'm your duck Morg and I have been since we first laid eyes on each other. Your Dad will probably turn me into something I won't like, but as long as you can get him to change me back I am willing to face him if you think we should."

---

Launchpad shook himself as he realized that he wasn't actually standing in front of Morgana's Mother's grave. He become conscious of the fact he was in the tower next to the bed and looked in shock at his best friend who was still sleeping curled up on the mattress in a fetal ball with Morgana beside him while Squeek crooned soothingly from his place on Darkwing's chest.

Looking apprehensive Launchpad asked her gently, "Your dad did something bad to DW didn't he?"

Morgana nodded, gulping down a surge of emotion she started to continue; and her distress reached Darkwing who stirred and woke up from his slumber.

Whispering hoarsely he asked, "Morgana what's wrong?"

He started to sit up but he had been so tense earlier and he had curled up so tightly that he cramped up as he tried to move. Concerned both Launchpad and Morgana moved to help him work the cramps from his muscles.

Taking a little bit of what looked like pollen from the ebony box and a tiny bottle of liquid from the mahogany one she had Launchpad slip Darkwing's costume jacket off. After carefully mixing the two ingredients together she began to groom his feathers and massage his back and shoulders.

Dark tried to protest that he was 'fine really' but when he tried to move without Launchpad's help he had to admit that he wasn't 'fine' as his muscles protested vigorously.

Eek moved back onto Darkwing and purred to relax him while Archie hopped onto Morgana and crooned to her. Since it looked like Darkwing was going to stay awake for a while, Morgana needed comforting too. In spite of his grouchiness Archie was actually very emotional and he couldn't stand to know his mistress was distressed without trying to ease her pain.

As the stuff Morgana had mixed worked it's way into his feathers DW realized that he had actually been asleep and hadn't had a nightmare, although he DID remember dreaming about being in the great hall of Castle Macabre and Morgana's telling off most of her family before opening a portal to take them 'home'.

Launchpad said cautiously as he held onto Drake's leg and pounded at a stubborn charley horse, "DW, Morgana was just telling me a little about your trip and…"

Looking agitated Darkwing shifted and squirmed under Morgana's hands interrupting Launchpad, "Launchpad, I told you Morgana had NOTHING to do with…."

Morgana sighed fondly, Dark hadn't pushed her out of his mind so she could feel his emotions and she knew he was going to defend her again.

Gently shushing him by putting her hand over his beak and then moving him back into position so she could finish easing his cramping she said firmly, "It's alright Dark. Launchpad deserves to know what happened. He loves you as much as I do and he and Gosalyn have been dealing with the aftermath in ignorance and that's not really fair to them or us."

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_Here is chapter 2 I will be giving Darkwing and Drake both the chance to tell their side of the story and Monoculo's newest scheme will be revealed in the next installment. I hope this is interesting and that it has made people want to read the rest. I am really trying to make the chapters shorter than Hexes & Vexes and still have a richly drawn plot and characterization. Please Read and Review if you like Irual_


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: Everyone that has been on T.V. belongs to Disney. Everyone else is a product of my insane imagination. Please read and review because I LIVE for feedback and am only doing this for the responses. (And to get the ducky's out of my head). No monetary exchange of any kind is involved, only love. Your friend Irual _

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Darkwing was trying to explain AGAIN to his best friend Launchpad that Morgana hadn't done anything wrong to him even though he had been having nightmares ever since they had returned from a visit to her family's castle last week.

Darkwing was a stubborn duck and even though his nap had done him good he was still very short on sleep so he wasn't feeling very patient. He tried to say something but as he twisted his head and started to turn so he could face Launchpad he was hit with another set of muscle cramps.

Morgana was concerned now. This sort of reaction was a lot more serious and prolonged than it should be. Archie chimed in from his place on her dress, _'He hasn't been eating or drinking enough Morgana, he is physically dehydrated and malnourished. Not seriously or anything, but you need to get something gentle into him so his body gets used to feeding itself again.'_

She nodded and said, "Thank you Archie. Squeek, you and Eek get me the small bottle from the cold side of my carryall and the linen packet of wafers too please."

Morgana was quite a bit stronger than her slender ladylike build and lush curves indicated so as Darkwing wiggled on his mattress and tried to interrupt Launchpad again Morgana simply waited him out, holding him onto the mattress and as he squirmed she continued to work the cramps and fatigue poisons out of his body.

While Morgana's bats saluted and went to get the things she asked for, Launchpad tried to calm Darkwing down. Smiling in his easygoing way he offered, "Just relax DW. I know Morgana didn't hurt you. She has been having trouble since you came back too. When I went to talk to her…"

Darkwing stopped struggling for a second as Launchpad's words registered past his stubbornness. Grabbing his pillow in both hands he waited out the back spasm that had him writhing miserably under Morgana's ministrations and then turned over on his side.

He tried to speak to her as she loosened his body's muscles but she made him lie quietly as his emotions and physical desire worked against him.

As her fingers preened his feathers and then went a little deeper to rub his shoulders he could feel himself relaxing for the first time in what seemed like weeks. He could feel her warm and strong inside his head just as she had been before he had blocked out all thoughts of her in a determined and unsuccessful attempt to excise his doubts and fears about his relationship and his future with the beautiful female he adored.

Worried, he glanced at Morgana in his dresser mirror and frankly, even though it felt great to have her with him again; his own innate stubbornness made him take a tiny mental step back as he tried to focus on Launchpad's words.

Darkwing asked in a lot calmer voice, "Morg, what exactly does LP mean? You've been having trouble too?"

Morgana sighed, "Dark, you have been shutting me out since the second night we got back from Castle Macabre. Honestly I didn't realize just how badly we were reacting to that until Launchpad came and told me what you have been going through."

Eek fluttered over and dropped a linen wrapped package of what looked like whole grain crackers on Darkwing's head, and then he landed on the headboard of the bed; while Squeek dropped a small bottle into Morgana's hand and fluttered onto the footboard. She shook the bottle a little to swirl the stuff around in its container and then opened it.

Looking a little apprehensive but not nearly as nervous or fussy as he usually did when faced with Morgana's cooking; Darkwing accepted the bottle without comment as Morgana gave it to him. "Here Dark, drink this for me, I promise it isn't nasty…. Its' a supplement to help your body catch up, just pureed fruit and vegetables and some added vitamins and minerals; Launchpad would you put some water on for tea please?."

Launchpad took this opportunity to escape to the kitchen and put a kettle on while Morgana untied the string keeping the napkin wrapped around the crackers and offered one to Darkwing. He looked a little doubtful for a second and then ate one of the crackers and drank the potion without any of his usual antics.

Glancing cautiously over from the stove, Launchpad was more than a bit surprised at this, but he didn't say anything since it looked like Morgana had distracted Drake from objecting to Launchpad's little adventure that had culminated in he and Morgana taking over the care and feeding of St. Canard's resident masked crime fighter, at least temporarily.

As Launchpad waited for the water to boil he got out a packet of hot chocolate mix and the bag of marshmallows and went to sit by the bed again with his mug. Morgana started to eat one of the crackers and then distractedly replaced it on the stack as Dark finished drinking from the bottle and looked around for somewhere to set it down.

Darkwing was more than a little surprised when he glanced at his hand and realized the bottle was just as full as it had been before he'd had any of the liquid inside it.

Morgana smiled and said very softly, "Finish the entire potion Dark, Your body shows all the signs of needing the nutrients in that mixture."

She offered him another one of the crackers and said gently, "I have missed you Dark. Without you the moon shines less brightly and all my thoughts are fragmented; just like my heart."

Archie crooned reassuringly and very subtly drew her thoughts and feelings towards how much she needed to touch Darkwing. He sent to Eek, _'Now is a good chance to see if he'll let us touch him while he's awake and aware Eek.'_

Warily she sat beside him and started to lean against him. The very last thing she wanted to do was try too hard and trigger his instincts to push her away again.

Eek landed on the mattress and carefully crawled up Darkwing's turtleneck to cling to his shoulder. As Eek sat there he sent to Archie, _'He think's Morgana will be hurt by his reactions. He needs to know that she is already hurt and he is making both of them worse by crippling himself this way.' _

Finishing the first cracker and wearily swallowing a second helping of the juice Drake sighed and objected a little, "You know why I've been trying to fight this alone Morg…. Until I get the ugliness in my head worked out I don't want to inflict it on you. I can't take the chance that my hang-ups will hurt you."

Very, very quietly DW added. "Or worse drive you away; I don't think I could stand it if you left St. Canard again, or me."

Managing to finish the bottle Darkwing looked guilty and miserable as he looked over at Launchpad who actually was feeling much more confident since Drake seemed to be facing his problems now instead of trying to avoid them.

Squeek took the bottle from him and fluttered to the carryall and returned with a second bottle. This one he dropped into Morgana's hands while Archie grumbled to her, _'you need help too Morgana, drink some of that and then have some tea.'_

Darkwing took a deep breath and added, "Launchpad, I…." Launchpad went to get the kettle and some mugs and he interrupted easily, "Take it easy DW, You know Gos and I will be fine. We love you and we know how you feel about us."

He looked over Drake's semi reclining form at Morgana and gave her a shy smile as he handed her two large empty mugs. Squeek fluttered over to Morgana's carry all and came back with a tea ball.

Launchpad poured hot water into his cocoa and then offered the kettle to Morgana. She looked around and gestured to a small stool, it promptly moved over to the bed and Morgana placed the kettle on it after dropping in the tea ball.

Launchpad continued firmly, "I know how you feel about Morgana too Drake, I think you two should talk this out."

He started to get up and offered blushing slightly, "I need to do some maintenance on the Thunderquack and the Ratcatcher so I can give you two some privacy."

To his surprise though, even as Darkwing relaxed against Morgana he asked. "Wait Launchpad, how much did Morgana get the chance to tell you about our trip?"

As Dark returned Morgana's embrace by leaning against her, Eek very warily crawled onto his lap making sure that; one, Darkwing saw him and that two he didn't react badly. When Dark didn't flinch or tense up at the bat's approach all three familiars breathed huge, silent sighs of relief.

If he was willing to let them touch him then they could influence him at a subconscious level at least and encourage him to admit his feelings and accept all of them eventually. If not then they were all up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Eek was not willing to risk being rejected so he churred quietly and waited on Drake's lap while Launchpad answered him.

Looking a little bug-eyed Launchpad admitted, "Well DW, I know you met Morgana's mom; and I guessed about her dad having done SOMETHING bad to you. He, heh…but that is when you woke up…."

Sighing Drake stroked Eek without really realizing that he was doing so and said, "Well, keeping thing's to myself has worked out almost as well as trying to convince Gosalyn that homework is fun. If you've got the time LP it's probably a good idea for you to hear the rest, if that's okay with you Morg."

Morgana nodded reassuringly and carefully adjusted the green cloth so he could snuggle down into the bed if he wanted. Drake had relaxed again and she could feel him both beside her body and in her head as they continued their narrative.

As they leaned against each other the familiars took this chance and sent energy coursing through both ducks. This came over them both as tingling sensations and increased mental alertness, which for Darkwing was a welcome change since he wanted to be sure Launchpad understood what had happened.

He was once again flooded with the sensation of being where he needed to be as he felt Morgana snuggle carefully against him and to his surprise he could feel a slight fizzy sensation as though he was walking on a wool rug and had touched something to make the static jump.

Unlike that sort of phenomenon this was more of a sustained tickling in his feathers than a spark of pain though. Morgana for her part was taken aback as she thought for just a moment she felt Power flowing between her and Dark; but since it was a very fleeting thing; she put it down to her imagination and her bodies reaction to his being so close and so wonderfully trusting and vulnerable as he reacted, cuddling her in response to her touch.

Relaxing for the first time since Dark had pushed her away earlier in the week, Morgana ate a cracker as she listened to him try and relive that terrible experience.

Darkwing sighed and then began, "Did Morgana explain about her Mom LP? "

Launchpad nodded adding marshmallows to his cup. He was quite proud of the fact that his hands only shook a little. Drake and Morgana both noticed this but neither one said anything just then, instead DW continued, "When Morgana introduced me to her Mom, she had some interesting advice for both of us; for the first time in weeks I felt I had a clear idea of not just how much Morgana means to me, but also just how hard it would be for her to give up all she grew up with just because it has been so difficult for me to accept for some reason."

Morgana started to tense up but Darkwing's hand which had been caressing Eek slid around her waist as he settled his head in her lap relaxing in a reclining position. She froze not wanting to discourage him from expressing his feelings and needs. Besides, knowing that he wanted to do that made her feel like flying from the inside out, her heart rate sped up a little as she realized that this was the first time since they had returned from the castle that he'd voluntarily been intimately demonstrative. Usually when anyone else was around he was too shy to be so physically affectionate.

Seeming unaware of the fact that he was being very open about his attraction for Morgana and his own shortcomings, Darkwing continued to talk earnestly to Launchpad. "We went back to the great hall because Morgana wanted to talk with her Father about us. I was going to wait beside the big fireplace but… well, let's just say things got a little messy."

He flushed a little and to Launchpad's amazement Dark closed his eyes looking very tired as he snuggled under her green blanket and yawned. His earlier flash of energy had faded almost entirely but with Eek churring quietly and Morgana stroking the side of his head he drifted back to sleep before he had a chance to worry about whether or not he was going to dream.

More than a little surprised at this Morgana looked worriedly at Launchpad but before either of them could move Archie sent to her,_ 'It will be alright Morgana, if you really want to work through this; now is the time to let go of your guilt and begin to learn from this. Launchpad needs to hear about what the two of you have been through and Drake needs rest. He will need to go to his daughter before she wakes up after sunrise, so it is up to you. You can face what happened and be there for Drake and Gosalyn, or not; but the time for indecision is past.'_

Taking a deep breath Morgana nodded to herself at her beloved spider's wisdom and continued as calmly as she could, "I knew that I needed to be honest with Dark and with myself, I had been keeping Darkwing as in the dark as possible about most of my family and culture to try and avoid fights instead of trying to teach him about me and my past."

Blushing she added, No pun intended Launchpad."

Launchpad for his part was amazed to realize that his usual unease around Morgana the powerful and faintly eerie sorceress had been replaced by a feeling of empathy for the beautiful, lonely, sad, frightened girl that looked out of her eyes as she confessed her uncertainty about her relationship with DW.

Squeek flapped over to Launchpad and landed on his flight jacket with a friendly chirp. Instead of flinching the way he usually did he smiled uncertainly, cleared his throat and said encouragingly, "I don't know Morgana that was actually a pretty good pun, all things considered. I understand how you feel. I was very uncertain about my future after I left Mr. McDuck and came to St. Canard. But I'm here for you if you want to talk, Drake is like a younger brother to me and like I said earlier, I know how much of his heart you have and he's always said that you are a good person; I trust you not to hurt him or me."

Blushing and taking a sip of his drink Launchpad confessed, "I'm sorry if I seem a little tense around you, Mr. McDuck and I have had a lot of trouble over the years with that Magica DeSpell and I guess you have been paying for it because she is one of the few arcane practitioners I've had a lot of experience with."

He paused thoughtfully and added as honestly as he could, " Jambalaya Jake's granny doesn't really count for me since I don't really recall much about her since she had me hypnotized most of the time she was involved here in St. Canard."

Sighing at this Morgana said as gently as she could, "I'm glad to know you don't think I am the same as Magica anymore Launchpad."

Taking a deep breath she once again began her narrative, "What I didn't realize until it was far too late was that my father had an entirely different agenda in mind for me than the one my heart and soul had decided on. I thought that he was just being overly protective and particularly hard to please when he kept insisting that Dark was unsuitable just because he's a Normal and not Mage born or Monster bred."

Tear welled up in her eyes as she admitted, "Dark paid the price for my blindness, you see…"

Just as before Launchpad found himself immersed in her words as her magic and her emotions carried him along.

Going back to the great hall with Darkwing Morgana couldn't help but feel the sensation as though a dozen or so large bats had taken up residence in her midsection. Daddy was bound to be stubborn and shout and rave, but Mother was right; Dark deserved to be included in her culture and it was about time Daddy admitted to it.

She was an adult and Daddy had to stop acting as if she was still the naïve, high school wall flower she'd been when that moat scum Lafayette had deceived her. She suppressed a shudder of loathing and self crippling fury and hate at the thought of that low down lothario, roasting had been too good for him.

Focusing determinedly on the present, not her dark past Morgana smiled as she took Darkwing's hand as they ascended the stairs to the upper floors to get to Daddy's study. Dark loved her and his faith in her had given her the courage to turn herself around and it was about time Daddy learned that first hand.

Once he really got to know Dark, he'd see how much she meant to him just as Dark meant the world to her and then he'd stop fussing so much. Morgana was in love but not stupid, she knew it would be a very long time before her beloved and VERY stubborn Daddy accepted her Darling Midnight Mallard; but with a lot of persistent persuasion, she was sure he'd come around.

After all he'd returned them all back to their original forms after she'd insisted the last time Dark and his little family had run afoul of her Father's sense of humor and temper. If worst came to worst she would insist and this time would be the same.

It wasn't like the lord of castle Macabre to waste magical power frivolously and so he would most likely content himself with a display of yelling and fuming and she knew her Honey-Wumpus could handle that. One of the reasons he was so irresistible was because he was so determined and opinionated, once he decided something it took and awful lot to discourage him, thank the fates.

Morgana was very startled when she got to her Father's study, he had risen from his chair behind his desk after shutting the top drawer with a guilty bang and had greeted her warmly but something had seemed off somehow. Eek and Squeek had trembled and fluttered for the doorway slipping out the arch just as the heavy door had shut ominously behind Morgana and Darkwing.

Archie clung to Morgana and trembled as he sensed the malicious intent behind Monoculo's false warmth as he turned to face Darkwing after kissing Morgana on both cheeks.

Monoculo forced himself to be calm as he surveyed the nauseatingly average mallard standing disturbingly close to his darling daughter. Putting on an artificial air of hospitality he gestured to the tray of starters and snacks beside his desk.

In spite of himself Monoculo's voice was cold and contemptuous as he reached for a small pile of worms that had been tied together in a squirming knot beside what looked like a smear of mostly dried blood. Dipping the wiggling mass into the brick red goop he ate the mouthful slowly making sure to enjoy both the sophisticated delicacy and the pale and uncomfortable look on the boy's face. "Here Dark…isn't it? Try some of these, I'm sure you like them, Morgana is quite an accomplished cook and these are a family favorite. She MUST have made them for you since you and she have been together for a while now."

Monoculo was well into his third century and he had plenty of experience at manipulating people, but he had to really struggle for a semblance of genial hospitality as he mentioned that last bit.

Much more naturally he added, "Morgana my dearest little mushroom, won't you have a bite before we have our usual delightful chat? It's been so long since your last visit home, I'm sure you must be famished for the kind of good home cooked meals you grew up on."

Steeling himself Darkwing swallowed hard and remembering his resolution to accept more of Morgana's culture he opened his beak and quickly stuffed the little mouthful in. Gulping it down rather desperately he managed to eat it without saying anything. This surprised Monoculo who had hoped to incite a rude incident between Darkwing and Morgana.

Morgana for her part stood resolutely beside Darkwing and ignored the tray of appetizers. He did turn an interesting shade as the spices in the sauce kicked in, but other than having a couple of tears leak out past his mask and having to swallow a few extra times; now that the stuff was safely past his gag reflex he found he didn't really mind it all that much.

Not as long as he kept his eyes off the tray anyway. Seeing the other bits and bobs moving and pulsing was quite a bit more than he wanted to deal with, particularly since he could still feel the stuff he'd eaten moving independently of his esophagus as it went down his throat.

Blushing Morgana picked up an ewer and goblet and poured Darkwing a drink to help him and answered her father firmly, "Actually Father, I do want to talk to you and I hope it will be a pleasant chat."

As Darkwing gratefully sipped his drink, which was ordinary water as far as he could tell, he noticed that Archie was very upset. The usually unflappable spider was trembling as he sat in Morgana's night black locks.

Archie started to move down Morgana's dress but when he got as far as her shoulder Monoculo promptly ushered them to the overstuffed chairs beside his small fireplace and scooped Archie up to pet him. This really startled all three of his guests.

Instantaneously apprehensive Archie sent urgently to his brothers, _'Monoculo is definitely up to something, His aura is very dark and clouded and he's just separated me from Morgana.' _

Morgana started to reach to take Archie back but Monoculo turned toward his desk and placed Archie carefully on the blotterpaper situated in the middle of the desk top picked up his cane and turned once again to face Morgana and Darkwing. Seating himself in the large, high-backed, comfy, brown, monstrosity of a desk chair that he habitually used, he gestured to the snack tray and it floated over to the couple beside the hearth.

Automatically Morgana reached for a small bite of what would pass for sushi in the Normal realm, the difference being that it was made with a very dark rice that looked black and the wrap surrounding the roll pieces was secured with stripes of glowing stuff that shimmered in the moonlight coming into the room. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten Monster cooking that hadn't been one of her restaurant's meals and frankly this looked delicious.

Smiling in what was honestly a fairly bloodthirsty manner Monoculo asked quietly, "Well Normal, how did you like the hors d'oeuvre?"

Morgana noticed that her father was acting very oddly and she saw his eye's narrow in a predatory fashion as he waited eagerly for Dark's response. Darkwing for his part DID see this, but the stuff he'd eaten made him sluggish mentally and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't say anything it was like he was a passenger in his own body.

Then to his shock and dismay, his mouth opened and words came out without his brain being involved at all. "Actually it was nasty and disgusting. I can't wait until I can get Morgana to see how much better Normal food is so I'll never have to choke down another nauseating bite of stuff like that."

Morgana was stunned and turned to stare at Darkwing in shock. But before her temper started to flare Archie made a Herculean leap onto Darkwing and bit him on the neck. Swiftly Archie injected Drake with one of his venoms and then bounced onto Morgana to bite her as well.

Darkwing found he could control his body again and as the spider bite stung and the venom burned it's way through his bloodstream he felt alert and energized, which if he'd had a chance to think about it would have seemed strange since venom usually didn't DO that.

But Archie was a Mage's familiar NOT actually a spider so it should have come as no surprise that his venom didn't have the usual effects or uses that a spider's venom did.

Furious Monoculo shouted, "Stop interfering, I know what's best for her!"

Monoculo would never actually hurt Archie, that was an unthinkable wrong; in spite of the fact his own beloved familiar had disappeared just after Charity's tragic death Monoculo remembered all too well the intimate connections and links between a Mage and their soul companion so in spite of his anger at Archie's actions he was very careful not to actually hit the spider who was frantically dodging and scrambling to avoid the tiny sparks of lightning that flew at him from Monoculo's cane.

Drake in the meantime had clamped both hands over his beak in a desperate attempt to keep from saying anything else but when Archie had bitten him he had instinctively clutched at the injury before turning to see Archie leap off Morgana who had slumped back onto the cushion of the chair, as best he could tell she had fainted.

Eek and Squeek were in fact flying frantically all over the castle hoping to find Lucidia Macabre. She was Monoculo's older sister, a very powerful Mage, and one of the few members of his family who could and did actively oppose him if she thought he was wrong.

They had immediately understood that Morgana had vastly underestimated the amount of resistance her father had towards her keeping Darkwing in her life. Being young and inexperienced it WAS possible that they were overreacting, but knowing the Macabres, it wasn't likely. Their beloved Morgana was going to need help and a lot of it.

When they heard Archie's call the two bats redoubled their efforts, splitting up to cover more area and frantically sending out their thought patterns to Kaa, Raa and Mossie Lucidia's familiars hoping to make contact.

Archie meanwhile scrambled under the desk and hid panting and grumbling just out of reach of his persecutor. He would have cast his thoughts in search of help but he had to trust his brothers with that. He was the only one who could help Morgana just now, she had given her word to see that Darkwing got back home safe to Morgana's house in St. Canard, but the spirit of her promise had been to see that he returned to his family unhurt and if Monoculo had his way that was looking sort of unlikely.

Even though he was more than a little shocked at Monoculo's behavior Archie was thinking a mile a minute. Morgana would wake soon from his bite and when she did she'd likely try to protect Dark.

Archie really would have preferred not sending Morgana within, but she was so high tempered that she wouldn't even stop to think she was being manipulated once she got angry.

She tended to fly off the handle without thinking and Archie didn't want her to say or do anything she was going to regret, Drake was already going to have a hard time proving he wasn't the one who said that about Monster cuisine and having Morgana say harsh things would only make things more difficult.

Archie, Eek and Squeek had been truly concerned for Morgana before she had connected with Drake. She had been destroying herself by inches and had turned her thoughts to dark paths far more than was healthy.

Thank the creator they had managed to keep her from using her magic directly in dark path ways, but even so…she had been getting more and more involved in villainy before Darkwing had made his entrance into her life and given her a reason to live and love again.

For that alone Archie would have felt at least a little obligated to the Normal, but with Morgana's WORD and honor at stake, this was suddenly even more than a matter of their personal feelings.

IF Morgana became foresworn she would bear the karmic burden and depending on what Monoculo was actually up to that could seriously cripple her and her power for the rest of this lifetime. It wasn't LIKELY mind you, but it HAD happened; it was one of the things familiars tried desperately to guide their partners away from. That and becoming fallen were two of the negative fates that all the partners shared when the time came for judgment.

Drake meanwhile had recovered from his surprise at having been bitten and the startling effects of Archie's poison, which evidently wasn't poison at all. He was worriedly trying to wake Morgana; he noticed the bite marks at her slender throat and winced as he felt the matching injury on his own neck. He did wonder momentarily why she had fainted but he had become more energized, but that was trivial just now. Carefully he started to stroke her cheek and anxiously kneeling beside the chair he called her name, "Morg, Morg sweetie, wake up."

Monoculo for his part was distracted from his pursuit of the spider by Darkwing's voice and he spun around to see him touching Morgana as she lay unconscious. The tender concern visible on the Normal's face even through the ridiculous mask he wore in an attempt to be more mysterious and appealing was the last straw.

Consumed with a damning array of negative emotions Monoculo lost it. In a voice full of envy, fury, hate and denial he said coldly, "How DARE YOU! How could they choose you? I'm the one who…! They belong with ME! Not you, you NORMAL."

Pointing at the startled Darkwing, with each sentence Morgana's father became more and more distraught. Monoculo attempted to fire several lightning spells at the masked and caped duck.

Darkwing was thoroughly confused now, he had NO idea why Morgana's Dad was acting so violent and in a split second he decided that the best thing he could do was to move away from Morgana so that she would be out of the line of fire since she was helpless.

Archie saw this and KNEW it was bad but there was nothing the spider could do. As Darkwing moved away from the chair and dodged around furniture and various curios he asked frantically, "Lord Monoculo, what's wrong? I mean I know my being Morgana's boyfriend bothers you. I understand really…in a few short years I'm going to be in your shoes with my little girl. But I…YIPE! I love her REALLY; I'll do anything to make her happy."

Drake was getting a little out of breath as he dodged and flipped. He was in shape but this kind of close sustained fight was not something he did on a regular basis.

Ordinarily he would have drawn his gas gun or used one of his gadgets to give himself a breather, but he REALLY didn't want to resort to that kind of thing with Morgana's Dad. If he did, then when Morgana found out; even if he won the battle he'd lose the war. Morgana would NEVER forgive him if he did anything to her dad.

Impulsively he tried again, "Look if you could just…Ack! Tell…Me…What Ihavetodo…to prove I love her and …YIPE! Hey, watch the cape there DAD. I ironed it especially for this…EEK. Wait!"

Breathing heavily Darkwing stood in front of the desk while Monoculo panted hanging on to the arm of his chair. Monoculo had used up a lot of energy in a very short time firing lightning bolts at the slippery duck. If he had been just a tiny bit less emotionally distressed he might have realized that no mere average normal mallard was likely to avoid that many spells at such close quarters. And if Monoculo had been just a little bit less angry and jealous he might have thought about the repercussions of his actions.

Unfortunately that wasn't what he did; instead he gathered his strength and started to aim once more at the duck that had become the target for his hurt, hatred and fury.

---

Morgana waited inside her mind, she had figured out that Archie had sent her within, but not why. She was actually more than a little angry at having been sidelined like this but it had given her time to think and she was very suspicious about Darkwing's comments and her Father's strange behavior.

The mindscape became lighter and less oppressive as she put aside her anger and thought about what had happened. Just then she heard Archie cry out, _'NO, No Don't DO that.' _

Morgana felt a surge of energy from her spider that helped her wake up and concerned for him she looked around the room. To her horror she saw her Father strike Dark down with a terribly powerful transformation spell.

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_Sorry if this doesn't end in a good place but I don't want to run overly long with this story and I want to update again as soon as possible. I hope I have been clear and the plot is keeping people entertained and engaged. Please read and review I will gladly edit and revise if needed. The next chapter will be soon I promise. Your friend Irual _


	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer: Everyone who's been on TV belongs to a large company with legions of lawyers who are minions of the mouse. Disney I am only borrowing them for fun and NO money since you don't tell their adventures anymore. Please read and review that is all the reward I get and all I ask for.**_

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Launchpad McQuack was completely submerged in the dramatic tale of his best friend's adventure. He leaned forward in his seat without realizing what he was doing. Darkwing's girlfriend Morgana Macabre had been trying to fill him in on the reasons why the two of them had been having trouble functioning since they had returned from her ancestral home in the Monster realm of Transylvania about a week ago.

Launchpad came to himself with a start as he heard a high pitched shrill squeaking and felt something tugging at his right hand. Looking surprised he glanced down at his lap to see Squeek, one of Morgana's bat familiars trying to keep him from spilling his large mug of hot chocolate on himself.

Morgana would have helped Launchpad, but she was curled around DW's other side and she would have disturbed him if she moved. Drake had his head in Morgana's lap and his arm around her waist while he slept with Eek snuggled on him.

Eek was making gentle humming sounds as he watched Drake attentively to be sure that the fear he had been struggling to ignore and suppress unsuccessfully for the past few days didn't have a chance to trigger another round of nightmares.

Morgana was unwilling to risk waking Drake from his slumber if she didn't have to. She watched anxiously as Squeek and LP juggled the chocolate. Fortunately Launchpad's reflexes were up to the challenge, and the marshmallows he'd floated in the top of the cup held in the drink as it sloshed so not much spilled at all.

Launchpad drank most of the hot chocolate and sat the cup down on the stool beside the tea kettle. Launchpad spoke to Squeek and Morgana, "Whoa, heh thanks little buddy. Gee Morgana, how do you DO that? When you are talking it's like I am really there…It's amazing."

Morgana flushed a little, "I'm not really sure Launchpad, I am not trying to do anything to you…I have access to lot of senses and abilities that many Normals CAN have too, but usually Monster kind and Mage born have defenses and immunities that keep them from being swept up in my emotions."

Concern colored her voice as she added, "And usually my self discipline and control over the energy I channel is much better than this."

Very gently she dared to brush her hand carefully along the side of Drake's face as he shifted slightly. Launchpad was a little surprised at her timidity, usually Morgana was a very confident and strong willed lady who not only knew what she wanted, she ordinarily didn't hesitate to grasp it in both hands. Launchpad watched her quietly and he came to the stunning realization that she was in just as much emotional turmoil as Drake had been for the past few days.

Thunderstruck he didn't even react as Squeek took this chance to satisfy his sweet tooth by eagerly lapping up Marshmallows and chocolate from the remains of Launchpad's drink. At least he didn't react until he had to fish the bat out of the mug when Squeek slipped and fell in with a surprised noise and frantic kicking of his tiny claws as he thrashed inside the cup.

Morgana sighed fondly and admonished her familiar gently, "Squeek dear, you know those strange powdered drinks are very bad for you. She snapped her fingers and a soft, damp towel appeared in her hand. She started to reach for Squeek and froze as Drake's hold on her shifted in response.

Launchpad took the towel from her gently and began to carefully clean Squeek off. Smiling he offered, "Here Morgana, I'd be more than happy to help you and your little friend. I should have realized sooner that you are having problems too."

Morgana nodded sadly and Archie purred soothingly from his place just under her bill. Trembling a little she admitted, "Dark actually cringed from me at Castle Macabre and it was him I was angry for. Drake doesn't realize it, but when he shut me out after we came back from the castle, he hurt all five of us."

Drake stirred slightly and very quietly he said, "I know that now Morgana, what I don't understand is…how I could hurt you and your familiars by keeping you safe?"

Launchpad carefully finished drying Squeek with his cashmere scarf and picked up his mug intending to wash it out in the sink. Morgana noticed that Squeek was now comfortably clinging to Launchpad's flight cap and humming in appreciation so she didn't say anything more about the hot chocolate. Instead she poured two strong mugs of tea and reluctantly helped Drake sit up so he could drink one. Her body shivered as he moved to sit upright and accepted the tea.

Taking a sip and wincing a little at its strong flavor and the heat from the drink he offered, "I have been trying to get over what happened Morg. I don't want to hurt you…."

He paused as he felt Morgana trembling; concerned he sat the mug on the stool. Turning to face her, he placed the green shawl around her shoulders. She sipped from her own cup and managed to say, "Thank you Dark."

As Morgana sat her mug next to his on the stool she tried to keep from crying but her breath came in harsh pants and tears welled up as her emotions ran rampant.

Upset, he started to move but Archie and Eek both reacted, Archie threw a small line of webbing and caught Darkwing's wrist as Eek chirped anxiously from his shoulder. Thoroughly confused now he froze and started to move Eek onto Morgana, "Eek, Morgana needs you."

He was feeling his own emotions, and for some reason he also felt as though he could tell that Morgana was being overcome by guilt, how he knew… well that was something he couldn't figure out just now but he KNEW that she needed emotional help.

Launchpad looked up and sighed, sometimes his best friend could be SO dense; then Launchpad interrupted from the kitchen. "Morgana needs you too Drake, stay there for a little while longer and finish your tea. When you two feel up to it, I'd really like to hear about the rest of your adventure; if you still want me too anyway."

Drake blushed a little feeling embarrassed as Archie reeled in his line and pulled DW next to Morgana. Drake felt a tingling sensation all over as his bill touched hers. Darkwing blushed a fiery red at the boldness of his actions, but he was suddenly filled with the need to make her feel better; and so he kissed her before pulling back a little hoping Morgana wouldn't take his actions wrongly.

Feeling more than bit uncertain he started to say something hoping to gage her reaction so he could figure out what to do or say to fix whatever he'd done wrong, "Morg, I…,"

She interrupted him sounding desperate, "Drake, please, please forgive me, I"

Still shaking with emotion she kissed him deeply… unable to keep herself from doing so just in case he shut her out again. She continued, tears leaking out of her eyes, "I am so sorry…."

As she held him she felt surges of energy that she put down to her emotional state and hormones not realizing that her familiars were channeling energy to and from the two of them as they touched.

Drake shushed her by putting a finger on her lips, "Morgana, baby…stop, please…It wasn't your fault. I…, I love you. I'm just scared. I have to believe you would never do that to me even when you are angry…. It's just…I need some time and sleep that's all."

Launchpad glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly three in the morning. He sternly suppressed a yawn, he and DW were routinely on patrol this late; but with all the trouble lately LP was short on sleep too.

He glanced over from the sink to see that his best buddy had finished kissing Morgana so he went over to sit in his chair again. Squeek churred to him and flapped carefully onto Morgana's hair which had come down out of its usual bouffant style and tumbled over her shoulders.

Drake was entranced both from the kiss and from a strange dizzy spell. If he hadn't known better he'd have thought he had a concussion or something. Everything seemed to slow down as he looked into Morgana's eyes.

Shaking themselves out of their trances Dark settled back against the pillow holding Morgana. Archie made little grumbling sounds and tied off his line carefully attaching Drake's wrist to Morgana when they were looking at Launchpad. He was a warm presence in her head just as she was in his. This meant she was able to continue their tale as Dark relaxed against her.

She took a deep breath and once again Launchpad found himself immersed in the story.

---

Eek fluttered frantically towards the corner tower that was Lucidia Macabre's usual haunt when she was in residence at the castle. He knew with certainty they were running out of time. His instincts were screeching that unless they found a way to challenge fate's whim, today was going to end badly for everyone.

He dove for the window hoping that her security spells would let him in, to his disappointment no one was there. He used the alarm spell to send his call to tell Mossie he was within Lucidia's private chamber but before he could get any further she cut him off saying that they would head directly for Monoculo's study and to meet them there.

Squeek meanwhile was determinedly pulling at Cousin Clyde and alternating between Spite and Envy trying to get them to go up to Monoculo's study. If there were witnesses Monoculo was a lot more likely to calm down just to protect his position of authority and his reputation as the head of the family.

When Mossie sent her reply to Eek, Squeek heard it too and flapped determinedly toward the study where his brother and his mistress were battling for both her heart and her loves mind and life.

---

Lucidia Macabre was walking in the memorial gardens with Kaa and Raa her twenty-five foot long two headed python familiars and Mossie her three eyed fifty pound toad familiar when Eek's call rang in their heads. Mossie promptly headed for the great hall with Lucidia as Kaa and Raa went directly for the wall to move up the outside of the castle heading for a window into the study.

Kaa sent to Archie_, 'Steady youngling we are coming.' _

Raa felt a sudden chill of foreboding as they hurried along the outside of the eastern face of the castle headed directly for Archie as he trembled under the desk.

_---_

Morgana shrieked, "Father NO! How could you?"

Her voices tone penetrated Monoculo's rage and his heart actually gave a guilty lurch at the tears and pain he heard coming from his little girl.

His pride and obstinacy kicked in as he commanded, "Be silent daughter. It's your fault he raised my ire. He's a worthless, useless Normal and entirely unworthy of you. Why do you persist in this folly? There are Monster bred men who will honorably wed you and provide for you. As the heir to the lands and titles of the Macabre clan leadership you can still marry well."

His eyes softened just a touch as he added fearfully, "If you are to survive producing an heir I can't risk you with anything less than a powerful mate Daughter mine."

---

Morgana meanwhile was staring in horror at what was left of the duck she loved. Rushing past her father she knelt beside the small purple, teal, and white footstool.

Her horror grew as she reached out to him with her Mage senses and realized that he had no way to access his physical senses. Usually when someone cast a transformation spell there was still sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch available to the victim.

Even when her spells misfired she was always careful to ensure that the target was unharmed and that the spell was reversible but poor Dark, He was entirely adrift and trapped without even a way to understand what had happened to him.

Monoculo squashed his guilt under a tidal wave of fury as his precious daughter looked up at him with her mother's tear filled eyes. Angrily he tried to force Morgana away from the transformed duck but she defied him clinging to the stool and anxiously calling to the boy. He almost lost control and struck her with his cane but at the very last second he hit the stool instead causing her to stiffen in outrage. The stool shifted and slid into the fireplace.

Rising to her feet she hissed in the most contemptuous, fury filled tone he'd ever heard, "May the creator forgive you, I will not!"

To Monoculo's astonishment he felt the well of power that protected Castle Macabre respond directly to Morgana as she called commandingly to her spider. Archie stopped shaking and scuttled out from under the desk. Swiftly he climbed up the pathetic little footstool and began making his little grunts and mutters as he waved his legs in a complex pattern.

The fire in the fireplace died down and went out, since the footstool was actually an enchanted person it was immune to actual damage but unfortunately for Drake he DID feel as though he was on fire, and without his senses to anchor him he didn't have anything else to focus on.

Morgana shouted, "Still!" and pointed at Monoculo who dropped his cane as he felt a binding force his arms to his sides and his beak shut. Then he watched bug eyed as she knelt again to pull both her spider and her boyfriend from the now chilly fireplace as a rime of ice and moisture formed.

The fog shrouding Morgana spilled out into the study and moonlight filled the room with silver light as she cradled the footstool tenderly caressing Archie as he clutched the top of Drake's enchanted form.

Truly frightened for her Dark she abandoned her defenses and dove within. Drake was struggling to keep himself sane. All he knew was one minute he was facing Morgana's very angry father and the next he was in this dark place. He tried to open his eyes and nothing happened, then feeling afraid he tried to move his body and couldn't make anything work.

Really disturbed now he tried to shout and struggle and still there was nothing. Suddenly all he felt was terrible burning as everything was on fire. Screaming in agony he tried to keep himself together but there was nothing he could focus on other than the pain.

Abruptly he felt a surge of energy and his heart leaped to know that he wasn't alone anymore. Regrettably he still had no real input but in his heart the fear and pain had been driven back some as hope sprang up to feed his natural courage.

Archie danced from foot to foot grumbling in Morgana's ear as she searched the mindscape for some sign of Darkwing, Drake or Dark that she could use to find him. As she traveled she used her feelings to try and focus on her Dark, that was the part of him that she thought of as hers in particular since he was her boyfriend, while Darkwing was the crime fighter part and Drake was the Normal she didn't really know that well.

Images came to her, and as she came closer and closer to her core and the self image of herself there, she could see clearly that Drake was the real duck behind the mask.

As she searched further and as Archie, Eek and Squeek joined her mind and spirit, she saw that Dark and Darkwing were just as real and legitimate as Drake and that all three of his aspects not only appealed to her but complimented her just as Eek, Squeek and Archie did.

Taken somewhat aback by this revelation she stuttered and staggered mentally losing focus as she tried to accept just how much she was in danger of losing if Drake decided she was not worth the risks he had to face in order for the two of them to stay together and maybe even become one pair.

Morgana's own innate courage rose to the challenge and gathering herself and the spirit selves of her familiars they set out to get all of them out of this mess.

---

Lucidia Macabre was trying to get up the stairs to the lord's study, which was the traditional place her brother chose to have his fits of melancholy as well as the area usually used by the head of the household to run the castle and handle family business affairs. Under ordinary circumstances this would be a much easier proposition than it was this night.

At least a dozen relatives were crowding the stairs all shouting and carrying on blocking her way. Every person in the castle heard Morgana's cry of denial so everyone currently in residence was trying to find out what was going on and no one was actually helping the situation.

Losing patience Lucidia used a force spell to move her relations to either side of the stairwell and ran up the stairs, only to find the Lord's Study barred from the inside. Truly irritated she pounded on the thick door with her cane demanding, "Monoculo you fool, let me in. MORGANA, what are you doing in there?" She and Mossie staggered as they felt the castle's Power respond to Morgana and then their own senses responded causing Lucidia to pound harder hoping to distract the two of them from hurting themselves or anyone else and to give Kaa and Raa a chance to get in the window.

---

Kaa and Raa were moving up the wall and were trying to get in the window. The security spells were now completely active since Morgana had tapped into the power of the castle's defenses directly. All the two of them could do was watch from the outside as the drama unfolded in the study.

Gathering her strength and focusing on Drake, Morgana and the spirits of her familiars sent their combined energy to the frightened tormented spirit within the transformed duck's body. Eek and Squeek reached his mind while Archie held his life and body steady.

Without this aid there was a very real possibility that Drake would have physical and mental damage he would be forced to endure for the rest of his life because of the absence of his senses. Since the familiars were channeling Mage energy into him from Morgana though, they could ensure that when the spell fulfilled its objectives, he would return to the same physical state that he'd been taken from.

Unfortunately Eek and Squeek couldn't talk to Dark and even though they were feeding him energy and they could tell he knew he wasn't alone now, they couldn't do anything about restoring his senses or anchoring him back to his body.

Morgana extended herself and when she found Dark she let him use her mind and it's senses to anchor himself. This meant that the two of them were now together in the mindscape.

Drake suddenly could see again and the first thing he saw was Morgana and her three familiars. Realizing he now also had his body he immediately moved to her and asked, "Morg, are you alright? What's going on? "

He was overtaken by a wave of dizziness and nausea as his balance gave way, but to his surprise Squeek came over to him and as soon as the bat landed on him he felt the landscape grow stable under his feet.

Morgana reached for him and began to explain, "Dark, we are within my mind right now…You are safe and I will not leave you. My father used his magic to transform you and took away your senses but I will free you I promise."

Lucidia was fast losing patience with this whole thing and since she had been the heir for close to fifty years before her brother Monoculo had been born, she knew the basic security spells that kept the door shut and that kept intruders out of the window.

Taking a deep breath she and Mossie focused on bypassing the spell on the window so Kaa and Raa could get inside. From the images they were sending things were already way out of hand and getting worse.

Once Kaa and Raa felt the spell dissipate they slithered inside and bit Morgana on her left side hoping to get her to allow Mossie and Lucidia inside.

Within, Morgana staggered; clinging with all her strength to Drake she kissed him to keep herself focused on him so the distraction outside her mind couldn't separate them. Archie, Squeek and Eek promptly used all their skills and most of the available energy to forge deep seated ties to Drake from Morgana and from him to her. Unhappily this also meant that Eek and Squeek disappeared from her mind and were back in their bodies. Both of them awakened and immediately flew to physically join Morgana and Archie.

Archie meanwhile was frantically explaining about Morgana's being unable to leave Darkwing, understanding the dilemma the two headed snake promptly released Morgana and moved to let Lucidia inside.

She and Mossie shut out the rest of the babbling horde and Archie bit Morgana and then hopped onto the footstool to keep Drake anchored in Morgana's mind so he would have references to focus on.

Morgana ignored her Aunt and the other familiars, her bats landed on Dark and all four of them concentrated on reversing the magic keeping Darkwing in the form of a footstool. Monoculo and Lucidia were shocked at the level of power Morgana was accessing as she held the garishly colored object.

Between one breath and the next where there had been a piece of inanimate furniture there was a very shaken and confused duck and where there had been a crazed Mage there was now a high backed, brown, wing backed desk chair that sported Monoculo's eyes and beak and struggled to speak as it hopped and shuddered.

Unlike his spell, hers was designed to let him keep his senses but before he could say anything she spoke up. "Lord Macabre, choose another heir, Unless you make direct and public restitution to this, the Normal I love and until you offer a public apology to us both I will not return to you. Knowing now how little I mean to you, I do not expect it, although the daughter who has loved you all her life long hopes for it; I bid you good bye. Aunt, give my love to my kin and accept it for yourself."

Lucidia tried to interject something but Morgana moved toward Darkwing who actually cringed away from her touch before visibly gathering his courage and accepting her hand. For a second there was a flash of hurt in Morgana's eyes before she spoke softly, "Dark, Drake, Please trust me and I'll take you home, I can help you get past this love."

He shook like a leaf in the wind but nodded as Eek opened a portal and they stepped through to Morgana's house in St. Canard.

---

_Here is the next installment I hope to finish this with just one more chapter. I hope it suits and I ask for feedback and advice on improving this since I am not sure it is the best I can do. If you have any suggestions I will gladly entertain them. Your friend Irual._


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: By Now we all know who belongs to Disney, everyone else I made up to help me tell their adventures. Please read and review if you like, and even if you don't like. I live for feedback and I will gladly reply to Private Messages too, your friend Irual._

**----**

Drake found himself kneeling beside Morgana on the floor of her living room as they stepped through the portal and came back to St. Canard. Truly frightened from his experiences, he started to pull away from her to gather his wits. However, a sudden dizzy spell made him lean against her.

He was almost relieved to see the faintly creepy décor and heavy red, black, dark walnut and brass color scheme of her three story house. After the castle this was very nearly homelike.

Morgana for her part was feeling as though the solid earth under her was now shifting sand, she had just told her father that she chose a Normal over him and no longer was his heir. Feeling shocked and a little afraid, she realized that her Monster life was about to become a lot more lonely and isolated.

Morgana was a Macabre and she knew her father well, he would not forgive or forget her defiance. He could even petition the council to banish her if he truly wanted to. When that happened, unless she made some emotional connections to some of the other pioneers outside of her home territory; she was likely to be an outsider in the Normal realm for the rest of her life.

Tears threatened to well up and overwhelm her but Archie grumbled comfort in her ear and Eek and Squeek both fluttered onto Dark and chirped loud enough for him to look up the line of her legs and see her distress. As the reality of the consequences of her actions came home to her she wrung her hands together and trembled.

In spite of his own unsettled feelings, Drake's instinct to protect and defend the woman he loved overrode his fear long enough for him to stand and reach for her hands. As he got to his feet though, he too shook; he put that reaction aside thinking it was most likely from an excess of adrenaline and the fact that he had been caressing Morgana's leg while he'd been beside her.

He seldom had dared to do anything like that before now, and even though he had been doing so without disturbing her dress, he wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that sort of thing so he tried to act like a gentleman, also the fact that he was very shy tended to make him even more cautious so just the fact that he'd dared such attentions at all bothered him a little.

Eek decided that Drake needed a little encouragement so he wouldn't convince himself that he HAD to rush off. They needed a little time to stabilize themselves and it would be next to impossible if Drake stayed away.

Archie, Eek and Squeek knew that they were sending energy through both ducks and laying some of the preliminary groundwork to make sure that the two of them would at least try to be together for a while. This was to give the familiars time to work out how to fix what had happened and hopefully explain things to both ducks. Archie tried to explain this to Morgana but she was so upset that she didn't hear him and of course Drake couldn't really 'hear' at all.

Most familiars were strictly limited to their one person, thanks to Monoculo's rash attack though; Eek, Squeek and Archie were faced with a very rare conundrum. They were now as connected to Drake as they were to Morgana, subconsciously at least on his part. In all honesty they hadn't even considered this to be a possibility so they were as in the dark as their mistress and her Normal; who wasn't strictly speaking, entirely Normal anymore.

As Drake held her hands, Morgana looked into his eyes and saw the remembered fear there; a feeling of regret and consternation came over her but right on it's heels was the knowledge that they had saved Drake and they were all together and that had to count as a good thing.

As Archie muttered gently to her and crawled onto the neckline of her dress she felt as though her every nerve ending was suddenly lit with desire as tingles of energy raced all over her body. Blushing with embarrassment, Morgana gasped a little; surprised at her body reacting so strongly to just Drake holding her hands. She took several deep breaths in preparation for trying to explain her sudden uncharacteristic reaction when she saw Eek was in fact crawling on Drake.

Drake felt Eek crawl on the collar of his turtleneck and rub his head on the underside of Drake's bill. At the same time Drake was consumed with the almost uncontrollable urge to curl up with Morgana right there on the living room floor. Drake KNEW that he was totally putty in her hands, and under almost any circumstance he was pretty much unable to tell her no if she really wanted him to do something; but this was strange.

Not that he didn't think she was totally gorgeous (because she was) and that slight touch of his hand against her legs HAD sent chills up and down his spine (he was a Hero not a statue for heavens sake).

He blushed in turn as he admitted that to himself, he was a red blooded male duck after all, even if he DID try and remember to set a good example for Gos. (It was likely the only leverage he'd have with her once she started noticing boys as something other than competition). But usually he had a little more on his mind than just groping Morgana in her living room especially since she was evidently as emotionally upset as he was.

Archie nearly had a coronary as he realized that Eek was being a little too heavy handed with Drake, _'Eek, ease off a little, he's resisting just on principals now but if he panics we will be truly up the creek without a paddle.'_

Sternly telling his hormones to take a long cold soak in an ice bath, Darkwing guided Morgana to the loveseat beside her bay window. It was nearly dawn but the sky was only just starting to lighten on the horizon. Archie crooned soothingly and Morgana started to relax a little. Squeek crawled onto Drake's hat and waited quietly while Dark carefully peeled Eek off his collar and placed him gently in Morgana's upswept hair.

Taking a deep breath Darkwing gathered his wits, struggling to figure out what to do. As much as he wanted to stay with Morgana, after all he'd been through he truly wanted to check on Gosalyn and Launchpad. He really wasn't sure how long they had been gone after all. Meanwhile Morgana was trying to come to terms with just how drastically different things had turned out from what she had hoped for or expected.

Very softly she admitted, "Oh, Dark, I'm not sure what I should do…."

Tears welled up as she struggled to calm down. Seeing this Darkwing sat beside her and put an arm around her comfortingly. "Morg, I…, I don't know what to say. I know you and your familiars saved me, I never wanted you to really have to fight with your Dad."

Realizing that Darkwing was planning to go check on the rest of his family, Squeek very, very lightly pulled Drake's emotions away from his own fear and worry just enough to show him that Morgana was scared too. Squeek felt immensely relieved as it worked, distracted by her need for comfort he settled beside her again and whispered in her ear. "I'm here for you Morg, I… love you, I'm so sorry…."

Archie decided to cheat just a smidge and while Drake was whispering to Morgana, Archie crawled quietly onto Dark's hat and down to his neck. Staying on the collar of the teal shirt as much as he could so that Darkwing wouldn't tense up, Archie waited his chance to act. He began prepping a little of the energy stored in the house's defenses to use on Darkwing, and Morgana.

While Archie and Squeek were busy keeping the two ducks distracted, Eek was marshalling the house's enchanted residents; they couldn't actually keep Darkwing here if he truly wanted to leave after all. Unless Morgana was willing to use a spell, potion or physical restraints, he was in fact free to leave at any time and if he left before Archie was finished none of the familiars were sure what the repercussions would be.

Eek was setting up a back up plan with all the gargoyles that had established a blood link to Drake over the past few weeks. So far less than half of them had managed it, he was very fast, agile and clever and when he wasn't distracted by his feelings he was a lot more of a challenge than any of the gargoyles had expected.

The doorknocker had already locked and sealed the windows and doors so that even if Darkwing or Morgana tried to go outside, there would be a few extra moments available to work out a minor compulsion.

What truly bothered the familiars wasn't really the extra responsibility of Drake, or even that he was totally ignorant. It was the plain simple reality that he led a very dangerous and almost completely separate life from Morgana's.

They had deliberately chosen to save his life and sanity, his karma was now partially their responsibility just as Morgana's was, that meant that their karmic debt still would accrue on Drake's behalf, in spite of his being a Normal.

Unless Drake and Morgana became a bonded pair, there wasn't a lot any of the familiars could do to take care of him, guide him or protect him or themselves if it came to that, not unless at least one of them figured a way to be around him a lot more than they ordinarily were and that wasn't likely as long as the two of them lived separately.

Archie HATED to manipulate Drake and Morgana, but he knew that Morgana and Drake tended to react and then regret when they were upset and this was just too vital to leave to chance so very, very gently and carefully he set a minor compulsion on them that would have them seek each other out if they were apart for more than two nights.

Like most subtle spells this one was flexible, as long as the two of them connected emotionally, the spell would remain dormant. As time went by; it would become more and more active until the conditions were met for it to become dormant again.

Because none of the familiars were really comfortable with this course of action though, Archie, Eek and Squeek all agreed that the compulsion would dissipate entirely once all three familiars had solid links to Drake and both he and Morgana understood how tied together all of them were. Eventually either Drake and Morgana would cripple themselves, or they would formalize their relationship either as friends, or as something much more.

Squeek was very concerned, that kind of spell was definitely a grey area. It wasn't actually a 'love' spell or anything and it DID leave both of their companions free will, but…it DID flirt with disaster especially if Morgana or Drake realized what Archie had done. Unfortunately, neither of the bats had any better ideas, all they could do was hope that Drake would still be open to his feelings for Morgana in spite of her father.

Squeek was definitely the most romantic of the three and he was unabashed in his hopes that they would become a permanent pair, while Eek and Archie were just hoping for close friendship at least at first; anything more would be gravy as far as they were concerned.

Greatly daring Drake gently moved Morgana's hair aside and kissed her neck as he whispered to her. He felt her tremble and started to pull back but she wrapped her arms around him and begged, "Please Dark, please don't stop. I need you to hold me please."

They both jumped guiltily pulling apart as there was a loud THUMP on the front door and the door knocker cursed, '_Drat that NORMAL whelp! He HIT me with the paper AGAIN!'_

Several of the gargoyles made shushing noises but the damage was done. Eek fluttered down the living room chimney and over to Morgana who conjured a towel to wipe the soot off him. Drake flinched, just a smidgen as the towel manifested but he found himself smiling at the tender care Morgana was lavishing on Eek.

He had always known that Morgana was a good person, warm and caring; and he KNEW in his heart she would be a wonderful mother. All of him was already convinced that she'd be an awe inspiring, magnificent wife. If he wanted to be honest, awe wasn't the only emotion in that equation, not by a long shot; a healthy dose of lust and trepidation were involved too.

That didn't even mention the fact that his heart felt like curling up and dying at just the thought of being without her love to answer the need in his own heart and the loneliness in his soul. In spite of all that though, his analytical detective side HAD to kick in with his doubts.

He was just an average mallard after all and in spite of his crime fighting alter ego it wasn't like he had a lot to offer a beautiful woman like Morgana. Her family owned a large estate with a CASTLE for crying out loud. Even if her father decided to name someone else his heir, Morgana still had money and Power, besides being a witch she was also a highly intelligent talented business woman and was actively starting a perfume line to market in both the Normal and Monster realms.

In addition to the real and PAINFULLY obvious fact that Morgana's family didn't approve of him, there was his own little family to consider as well. He wouldn't trade Gosalyn for anything and he loved her just as she was with all her spunk and spirit and mischief and he knew Morgana loved Gos too but he'd never brought up him and Morgana becoming official with Gos or Launchpad either, and doing anything 'official' would affect LP too.

He didn't know what Gosalyn thought or wanted so he was in the dark there as well as the real and honest fact that he wasn't sure if Morgana really wanted to be official. If he asked and she said no, then what would he do?

He didn't have anything to offer except himself really, all he could do then would be to grovel desperately the same way he had when Negaduck had tried to convince Morgana to return to a life of villainy. Granted, Morgana HAD chosen him and she HAD also chosen to remain reformed, but…if they did become official, and they fought…what if she used her magic to do something horrible to him?

As these thoughts raced through his head he didn't continue with the logic to realize that she _could_ use her magic that way anyway and never had. Even when she DID lash out magically the effects, while painful; were short-lived and the only times she had transformed him he'd still been basically himself and he'd returned to his true form before sun up or sun down depending on when he'd said or done something to tick her off. That didn't even include the times she immediately fixed him when she'd had one of her accidental difficulties either.

Morgana held a hand out to him and asked softly, "What's wrong Dark? Please come sit and talk to me. I…."

Eek fluttered to the window and hung upside down on the edge of the window frame clearly acting as though it was time to sleep, while Squeek subtly drew Dark's emotions to how tired he was after the rush of all that unused adrenaline. Archie had gone through the mail slot in the front door and dragged the newspaper inside.

Darkwing was surprised to see that Morgana had subscribed to the St. Canard Chronicle; to his amazement according to the date on the front page the two of them had been gone for only the one night. This was the morning edition for the day after they had left; so much had happened that it felt like a lot more time should have passed.

He suddenly sagged against the loveseat and tried to suppress a yawn Squeek and Archie promptly yawned and both Morgana and Drake followed suit.

Darkwing tried to say good bye and go one more time but Morgana interrupted him worriedly, "Dark, you are too sleepy to drive, why don't you take a short little bat nap and then go home? You can use my phone to check on Launchpad and Gosalyn. "

She rose to take his hands again and drew him back to the love seat. Eek swooped to the phone on its stand and brought Drake the receiver chirping encouragingly. He stared in shock as Eek used his little claws to pull on the rotary number dial and connected him to his house phone.

Launchpad's sleepy voice came over the line, "hello yawn… Mallard residence…."

Drake jerked out of his bemused trance and said, "Launchpad, I'm sorry to wake you. Listen I wanted to make sure you and Gos are okay…. We just came back and well…."

Launchpad sounded a little more awake as he heard the worry and stress in Drake's voice. Reassuringly he interrupted, "No worries DW, Gosalyn went to bed around ten thirty and we are both just fine. We went to Hamburger Hippo and rented some DVD's."

Drake sighed, "You let Gos pick again right?"

Sounding sheepish Launchpad admitted, "heh, heh… How did you know?"

Darkwing shook his head and said gently, "I'll bet you haven't been to sleep yet have you? I'll have a talk with her LP. There is more to life than Horror movies and Alien invasions. It's almost daylight and I'll be home soon, since you are still up though; could you make sure Gos get's up in time for school? I'm running behind schedule with the time difference and stuff."

Dark was interrupted by another HUGE yawn as Archie and Squeek orchestrated Morgana as well as Drake hoping to convince them to stay together for the morning at least. With a couple of hours to work with the three of them could at least TRY and organize themselves and learn Drake's emotional pattern. That way they could track him in case the worst happened and he and Morgana stayed apart.

Archie's real worry was that once Drake's mind tried to assimilate what had happened to him, his subconscious would prompt him to panic, if he did Morgana and all three familiars stood a very good chance of being drawn into his emotional distress.

Knowing that though all three familiars were already bracing themselves just in case, Morgana was still so upset that she wasn't really paying attention, but being Mage born, she had practice with mental defenses and she knew her mindscape fairly well for so young a witch.

Launchpad laughed gently, then his caring side kicked in and very cautiously he suggested; "Sure thing DW, listen you sound really tired; maybe you should see if Morgana will let you rest up there for a little while before you try and drive the Ratcatcher. I'll see to Gos until you get home."

Ordinarily Darkwing would have gotten upset at any suggestion that he was less than capable regardless of his condition but he got an unexpected flash of memory from the time he'd been stubborn and stupid and deliberately driven his motorcycle without a helmet and been badly hurt.

The extraordinarily vivid dream he'd had as he had been unconscious from his injuries still bothered him occasionally. Especially if he'd done something his conscience bothered him over, such as when he took LP for granted or was rude to the Muddlefoots or professionally when he let his ego and pride get in the way of trying to see justice done. Swallowing hard he struggled for a second trying to get his bearings.

It was only a slight pause, but LP knew Drake really well and even tired he seldom paused so long before responding. Thinking something was really wrong LP asked even more cautiously, "DW, you Okay…Umm, Drake?"

Coming back to the conversation with a start, Darkwing answered distractedly, "That's a great idea LP, I'll be sure and ask and even if it doesn't work out I'll take a nap in the sidecar before I come home. I'll see you soon okay?"

Launchpad answered sounding relieved and very sleepy, "Sure thing DW be careful."

Eek took the receiver back and hung up the phone making satisfied little chirps while Squeek went to the hall and came back struggling to fly with a dark purple afghan that he dropped on the loveseat by Morgana and Drake.

Archie took this chance while they were distracted and crawled off Drake and along the back of the furniture to snuggle innocently into Morgana's hair. Morgana shivered a little as she watched Drake thinking intently while he spoke to Launchpad.

Her instincts said that Dark had serious issues with her magic now; she had seen his reaction when she'd teleported the towel from the kitchen and it truly terrified her to think that he feared that part of her now.

Inside she felt like crying all over again her, ability to channel Mage energy was an integral part of her that she couldn't change or deny, not even for him. Even when she'd first used her magic around him to keep Darkwing and Launchpad prisoner, and she'd shown him her mutated mushrooms he hadn't been afraid.

He'd actually accepted her Mage talent and even admired her abilities at weather manipulation and energy transmutation when the two of them had teamed up to destroy her experimental mushrooms after she'd realized they were too faulty to continue with.

He'd staunchly defended her to his sidekick and she knew now, given how much trouble her gargoyles had trying to catch and mark him; that Drake been a semi willing prisoner at the time. She hadn't admitted it, not even to herself but she'd been just as smitten as he had been.

From the second she'd seen him stalking into her boardroom so stubborn, so dogged and strong-willed , he'd answered a need inside that she had never even acknowledged until then. Looking at him now she SAW that same courage and strength trying to rebuild his confidence in himself and his trust in her.

Gratefully she snuggled next to him as his eyes turned gentle and he relaxed next to her. Darkwing and Morgana passed into sleep almost before their eyes shut; It was very unusual for familiars to be so blatant in their influence but the three of them honestly felt as though they had little choice, Archie, Eek and Squeek all worked together to pull the afghan over them. The three of them immediately set to work learning what the actual consequences of their actions were for themselves and for their companions.

Archie thought a very bad phrase as he and Eek and Squeek found the traces of Monoculo's earlier handy work. Muttering in quiet irritation Eek began reversing the hex that told Drake's brain to induce illness when he ate Monster food while Archie soothed the emotional distress that Drake associated with Monster cuisine, he couldn't erase it entirely Dark really DID have a few issues about things he wasn't used to but at least there wouldn't be outside influences making it worse after they were through.

Squeek on the other claw was getting a bit concerned about Drake's sleep pattern, it was only natural that his mind would try and assimilate his recent experiences and all three familiars anticipated that he'd be having a rough time; at least at first.

Squeek was very surprised to realize that Drake's fear seemed to be surging from an injury to his psyche that was VERY old and deeply buried, evidently being helpless and abused was something he had avoided dealing with but had experienced before, evidently as an extended incident; this came as a big shock to all three familiars.

Eek finished the little he could do for now and moved to snuggle with Archie in Morgana's hair, they had decided to take it in turns to bond with Drake since they were most effective when he let them touch him and they couldn't neglect Morgana so Squeek had agreed to stay with him first.

---

Lucidia Macabre sat quietly at the hearth in the great hall of her ancestral home and asked creation fervently for the strength and wisdom to persevere in the face of stubborn idiocy, especially in regards to her beloved relations.

Kaa and Raa were basking in the fire's warmth and looked as if they were pointedly ignoring the chaos and confusion that was currently running amuck within the venerable castles walls.

Still pretending indifference they spoke reassuringly to their mistress, _'Be comforted Lucidia,' 'Yes, its not as bad as all that, just because someone else has finally stood up to Monoculo AND it happened to be Morgana doesn't mean the world is coming to an end after all.'_

Mossie chimed in from her place beside Lucidia's chair as she bathed in a shallow bowl, _'I for one think it's high time that girl learned her father isn't perfect. Loving him is one thing, not understanding that he's mortal and has faults is another. Even making allowance for his grief as you all STILL do doesn't excuse his behavior this time.'_

The Macabre family had been in residence here for close to 1000 years give or take a century or two and they had always been a strong-willed cantankerous lot.

One of the reasons they had become so prominent, influential and wealthy was because they had always been fairly fertile and very clannish, and with so many diverse and well shall we say…unusually determined personalities around; the castle had weathered it's fair share of internal turmoil over the years. Even so, the various allies and subordinate creatures in residence had to think long and hard to recall a time when so many Macabres had been in such a state all at once.

Monoculo Macabre was sitting in his chair beside Lucidia. Thanks to her and her familiars he had been restored to his proper form but he wasn't at all his usual domineering and overbearing self.

In truth, he was looking more uncertain now than he had since Morgana's mother died. He was in fact trying to come to grips with the reality that his darling little girl had turned on him, and even worse she was now more determined than ever to have that Normal in her life.

For one of the few times in his life since he'd been forced to continue on without Charity he was actually thinking of someone other than himself, ordinarily this would be a good thing but given his track record it wasn't really that likely.

He actually was alternating between shock at Morgana's audacity and admiration for her heretofore unrealized Power level. Right on the heels of this though came his old fear now with a new twist, with her out among the barbarian Normals and now alienated from her family thanks to THAT Normal; she would have no one to turn to if she got into trouble.

Lucidia saw her brother's expression change from bemused to something much more along his usual line of angry and stubborn. She braced herself for the conflict to come and taking a deep breath; she faced her brother.

Speaking in what she hoped was a reasonable, calm, non accusatory tone Lucidia began, "Monoculo, PLEASE don't do anything rash. Morgana would be well within her rights to call in Council Wardens if that young duck of hers sustains any permanent harm from what you did to him, how could you craft a spell to deny the boy his senses? You know that isn't even done to convicted criminals much less a defenseless Normal."

Monoculo wasn't stupid, not really; but he WAS very well versed in ignoring what he didn't want to face so he paid no attention to Lucidia's statement and began to assert a point of his own. "Lucidia, you felt Morgana access the castle's defenses didn't you? She did it without any of the keys or links that were built into the defenses either. Her raw Power level HAS to have gone up by at least a factor of two. Don't you agree?"

His voice lost a tiny bit of its enthusiasm as he skirted the next part of his point. " With that kind of natural Power at her age, she's bound to be considered marriageable in spite of her well, ordinary looks."

Hurrying past this sore point, after all Monoculo had never agreed with this assessment of Morgana; since Morgana was his little girl and therefore entirely beautiful he continued determinedly, " In any case, her background is certainly respectable and socially acceptable, and it's not as if her reputation is past saving yet. I'm sure I can approach one of the older more experienced males from say the DeSpell line, or one of the English lines; maybe even the Sagar's would be willing to entertain an offer if I put together an enticing enough dowry."

Clearing his throat he continued, "I think I'll approach the DeSpell's first, they would be close enough that she could stay here some of the time since she'd likely be a second wife."

Lucidia was now staring at Monoculo in undisguised amazement. She tried to interrupt this delusional tirade to interject the voice of reason but he continued unheedingly. "The only un-promised male DeSpell I can remember is that Poe boy and I can't recall anything about him more recent than a decade or so. If I made an offer to them for him, Morgana would have the status of first wife as well as being close enough to visit here frequently."

Grinning in a fairly nasty fashion he mused. "Unless that Poe boy has been spending all this time amassing a fortune of his own I can't see where he'd have the resources to turn down the offer of a young, fertile bride and living accommodations as well as the monetary and social advantages I'd extend to him. If my memory serves me, his sister is Magica, and she was always a strong Mage although she's been markedly absent from polite society for quite some time."

Ignoring Lucidia who was trying to make coherent sounds come out of her mouth around her own temper and outrage at Monoculo's high-handed, arrogant and evidently delusional fantasy in his plans for Morgana's future he gestured eagerly to Envy and Spite who were trying to calm and organize their relations so that people would get back to their usual routines.

He motioned them to seats beside him and began to grill the two of them on all the information they had on Poe DeSpell and the other prospects he'd decided on before Morgana's visit.

Monoculo had already convinced himself that after this last encounter, the Normal would cease to be a problem, one way or another; and it was high time he saw his baby properly settled.

He DID feel a chill deep in his heart as he again shied away from the very real possibility that Morgana would follow the same tragic path that all too many of their young woman did. Deep inside he knew that trying to have his grandchildren could very well result in Morgana's death just as Chastity had died from the complications of her second pregnancy, but resolute in his duty to his family and his daughter he continued on; pushing that terrifying possibility as far away as possible.

-----

_Okay so I was wrong, I will have one more chapter after this. But I hope this is giving people an interesting insight into some of the dynamics of Morgana's family and makes some of her dad's actions clearer. I was actually thinking of My Valentine Ghoul and Monsters Are Us when I thought this up. The next update should end up at the beginning of the story and should be really short. Your friend Irual_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Disclaimer: Yes we all know I am obsessed with Disney's cartoon Ducks, these in particular are from Darkwing Duck and everyone who you recognize from TV belongs to Disney and is used without permission for NO monetary profit at all. There ARE some Original Characters in this, mostly relatives of Morgana's I made up. They are technically mine and are represented in picture form on my BFF Chibibarb's Deviant art webpage. I live for feedback and gladly answer all inquiries please feed my insatiable appetite for reviews if you feel so inclined. Thank you, Irual**_

**---**

Envy and Spite Macabre were caught between the proverbial rock and the hard place, the rock being not wanting to offend their Uncle or set off one of his more unfortunate episodes and the hard place being the knowledge they held about the reality of their cousin's position. Sighing very quietly to herself Envy spoke philosophically to her familiar named Tumbler who was a dark patch of shadow on her shoulder.

'_Tumbler dear, I don't think there's any way we can tactfully avoid Uncle this time. Let Spite and Beaker know that we'll have to delay any communications Uncle sends about Morgana until Father or Council-head Bellarmine are informed.' _

Tumbler's eyes glowed a bright golden as she considered their options, she was a sweet companion who was usually very solid and optimistic, unfortunately though there was little she could offer in the way of help other than to keep track of the information Monoculo was given and to warn about conflicts in the probable results of his requests.

Tumbler sighed in her mind curling sympathetically a little more snuggly around her mistress.

Envy and Spite both cultivated personal images that included being slightly mussed and unkempt in keeping with their reputations as casual lay a bouts, hangers on, flirtatious acquaintances and even occasional paramours with quite a few of their contemporaries and even (it was rumored) many of the older generations as well.

In reality they are information conduits for their mother and serve the council on several levels. The head of the council Theo Bellarmine pays them stipends from his personal moneys and also considers them very mature regardless of their relative youth.

They are a vital source of information and useful in influencing the population towards supporting council laws and the customs of their culture. They are both well over fifty but are aging at Monster rates so look as young as Morgana who is actually twenty-six.

In reality they are just reaching the cusp of young adulthood but like most Mage born and Monster kind of the past few generations they have been pushed to adult responsibilities at the same rate as Normals in an effort to encourage quicker bonding in the hopes of producing more babies.

It's not actually clear how effective this policy is yet, in Lucidia's grandma's day adult hood wasn't official until nearly sixty or so. Only Normals and those unfortunate enough to age as swiftly as Normals were considered adult at twenty-one. That cultural custom has undergone fairly widespread revision as people have tried to ensure the continuation of families.

Tumbler offered, _'Monoculo isn't really rational about Morgana and there is little you or Spite can do to influence that just now.'_

Spite agreed with his sister and her familiar, his own companion Beaker was identical in appearance and tended to echo Tumbler the same way that he and Envy could hear and speak to each other magically.

Spite though thought of their situation as being more accurately the immobile object and the irresistible force. The immobile object being their cousin Morgana's strength of mind and character in deciding her own course and the irresistible force being their uncle's resolve to wed his daughter to a son-in-law of his choosing as opposed to accepting her choices and their consequences.

Beaker agreed with his master as he snuggled carefully under Spite's supposedly carelessly tousled long red hair.

The two twins seemed to be the bane of their mother's existence, since Lucidia was a respected, responsible council member; having her twins behave like irresponsible playbirds of leisure popping off to the London club scene and Monte Carlo as well as most of the very chicest Monster destinations would normally be considered at the very least a negative.

Lucidia's tone as she connected with her offspring mentally said otherwise. While she was in fact thoroughly pissed off, her obsessed brother was the target of her ire not her children.

They both sent soothing thoughts to her and Spite offered, _'Not to worry Mother, let Uncle stew over his betrothal offers and dowry plans, Council-head Bellarmine has already agreed that no one will be consigned to a marriage contract without their willing consent and we have already spoken to Pulao, Grimm and Father about Morgana.'_

Envy agreed, 'We love her too you know, we won't stand by and see her unhappily wed to someone just for Uncle's sake. Father has agreed to open communications to the Normal realms pioneers, he's even held a séance and contacted Grandpa Haitian and given him a key to his back door just in case Morgana thinks to come to him.'

Lucidia smiled mentally at her wonderfully devious and intelligent children. Her tone turned admiring and very pleased as she answered them. _'That's why you are so good at what you do my dears, you not only predict problems you think up options to solve them. I hate doing this to you, but I can't sit here much longer and not try and beat some sense into Monoculo. I need to clear my head so I am going into the gardens for a bit. I'll be in around dawn.'_

Giving her brother a heated glare that bounced off him without apparent effect, Lucidia got up and stalked outside taking Kaa and Raa with her. Several of her other female relations were equally angry and also left the hall with expressions that should have melted holes in the stone walls.

Mossie laughed and offered,_ 'You three go on and enjoy the night air, I am having too much fun hearing Monoculo's plans and plots to stop now. Besides at least one of us should keep him in mind so we can keep him from actually involving any of these prospective grooms in his machinations, for their sakes and ours.'_

---

Darkwing stirred restlessly on Morgana's love seat as his mind tried to absorb his recent experiences at the hands of his girlfriend's father. Unfortunately, he had no understanding of, or practice at; keeping his thoughts and emotions to himself.

He honestly didn't even grasp the fact that Eek, Squeek, Archie and Morgana were in fact intimately connected to him until after he'd accidentally drawn them into his troubled dreams so what happened next was entirely unintentional and very unfortunate for all concerned.

As Squeek crawled over to Morgana and Archie snuggled onto Drake's turtleneck collar, Darkwing was submerged in the memory of being held down, unable to move or stop the torment he knew from past experience was coming.

Morgana was experiencing everything her Dark was trying to work through and her own heart pounded as dread and terror overwhelmed her and the boys.

His feathers were sticky from the blood dried on them and his legs were cramping from being held in one position for so long. His heart pounded uncontrollably but as the door opened his feeling of dread manifested the other terrifying, more recent; memories and suddenly he had no body or senses again and was on fire.

Scrambling for an emotional foothold all four of the now disoriented passengers in Dark's head began trying to get his attention. If they could wake him up they could disentangle themselves and each other and reestablish their boundaries.

Drake felt them in his head and knew they were hurting, Morgana reached for Drake and when the two of them connected they were overcome with the feeling that they were now where they needed to be. A feeling of well-being surged over both ducks and all three familiars temporarily soothing all of them.

The familiars were energized by the flow of Power between Morgana and Drake as they held each other tightly within the mindscape. Archie happened to be closest and wrapped himself around DW's wrist (metaphorically speaking). Archie felt the energy coming from Drake as Morgana accepted his fear and confusion.

Archie sent to the bats in amazement, _'He's channeling energy the way we do. I didn't know that was even possible.' _

Eek and Squeek clung to Morgana and answered him, _'We are all in uncharted waters brother. We will be lucky to ride out the storm of his adjusting to us, at least he and Morgana are well matched and grasp that they belong together now. Knowing how stubborn they are it will take a while to get the message to sink in though.'_

Archie nodded to himself and thought privately,_ 'Until that day arrives, we had all better be on our best game or there's no telling what will happen for certain sure.' _

Drake felt his terror fade as he saw Morgana's beautiful eyes, she held him close and tried to whisper reassurances as Archie, Eek and Squeek clung to both ducks. Drake could tell that all four of them were badly frightened and he was overcome with guilt and crippling misery as he knew that it was his fault they were hurting. Summoning as much of his strength as could he kissed her and pulled himself free of the four of them.

She looked panicked and begged, "Dark please, don't fight us. We need to stay together."

Feeling even more consumed with guilt and self doubt he whispered, "I'm so sorry Morg, I never meant to hurt you. Please, please give me a little time and I'll try and fix this."

Truly frightened now Archie, Eek and Squeek tried to reach Drake. He was used to avoiding attacks as Darkwing and he adroitly dodged them and ran within his mind. Frantically he shut the door he imagined behind him as Morgana sank to her knees, struggling to deal with the pain that Drake's fighting them and shutting himself away from them was causing. She DID have more experience than Drake in understanding the mindscape, but she was very young and having him mistrust her hurt.

Waking up, all five of them gasped and shook as Drake struggled to calm himself. Morgana reached for Darkwing's hands, she caught him and clung close whispering hurriedly. "Please don't go Dark, we can handle this just trust me please."

Darkwing kissed her passionately and looking haunted, for lack of a better term; he pulled away saying gently, "I love you Morgana, I don't want to hurt you."

He reached gently to caress Eek, and Squeek, they chirped in astonishment and arched against his hand. He then kissed her again and tickled Archie gently on his back as a kind of silent apology before pulling away and turning for the front door.

Darkwing adjusted his hat on his head and shrugged his jacket straighter in an attempt to use the familiarity of his crime fighting alter ego to focus himself. He had to be sure he didn't look directly at Morgana, Drake knew if he did he'd crumple helplessly into a worthless heap of feathers and emotions and he couldn't risk hurting her or her familiars again.

Then he said in a truly miserable tone, "Morg, just give me a little time, I promise I'll call you and come see you soon, but I need to go to Gosalyn and Launchpad."

Making sure the door in his head was still shut as tight as he could make it, he tried to pull the front door to Morgana's house open. It was stuck for some reason and taken aback at this, he reached into his jacket and got out some of the lubricant capsules that he used to maintain his gas gun. He sliced open the seal on them and rubbed the gel inside onto the hinges.

Using his Jr. Woodchuck pen knife again he pried the pins from the hinges and moved the door aside. The doorknocker cussed and fumed as he saw Dark move out of the doorway onto the porch.

The doorknocker needed to rally the gargoyles and warned them by attempting to engage Darkwing in conversation. " You nutty Normal, you can't just wreck my perch and leave! You better put me back where I belong or I'll sick the gargoyles on you."

All the gargoyles that had managed to acquire a first mark to Drake swooped towards him in an attempt to slow him down as the rest of the gargoyles formed up and tried to herd Darkwing back into the house to rejoin Morgana.

She moved toward the doorway and asked frantically. "Please, Drake wait…. You need to understand…,"

Placing the door gently on the porch, doorknocker side up; Darkwing interrupted her stubbornly, "Morgana, I can't stay here and hurt us. Gosalyn and Launchpad are the rest of my family, I need them to help me shut out the reactions that are hurting all of you. Lord above help me Morg, there are things in my head I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy; much less YOU or Archie, Eek or Squeek."

Getting a mulish look on his face he deftly avoided a three pronged assault by the gargoyles. Dodging and ducking Dark tangled most of them in several of the nets that he shot from canisters loaded in his gas gun. Then using a freezing gas capsule he immobilized two more, catching them and setting them carefully on the porch so they wouldn't be hurt as they fell.

Sounding guilty and uncertain he continued. "I AM sorry about the hinges on the door, I didn't damage the pins, you should be able to just slide them back into their receptacles."

Dodging the few Gargoyles that were still free he ran for the Ratcatcher, determined to put physical distance between himself and the people he loved, who he was convinced he would hurt still more if he stayed.

He was so stubbornly certain that he was doing something that would help, it never occurred to him that he was crippling Morgana by rejecting her. With his ego it never occurred to him that Morgana and her familiars would know how to help him deal with this, he'd only become really comfortable with Launchpad's being so emotionally close in the past few months after all. He'd gotten so used to pushing people away and isolating himself that regrettably it was still a very strong habit.

As he roared away into the late afternoon traffic Morgana gasped with dismay as she realized that his sheer stubborn will was a barrier she couldn't cross through unless she touched him since he still harbored doubts and fears about their relationship and her.

She could feel his love and courage battling against his doubts and fears but as he got further and further away even that faded into the background of living beings that made up the cities natural aura. Consumed with her own negative and uncertain emotional state Morgana turned back to free the gargoyles and replace the door with a heavy heart.

Eek started to follow Darkwing but Archie stopped him._ 'Wait brother, the compulsion should get him to return and if it doesn't we can track him for Morgana. Sooner or later his need will overcome his fear and we will be ready to help them both by then. Let's stabilize Morgana and give him the chance to calm himself down, he is convinced that will help. For all we know it WILL help, the mind is a funny thing and conviction can perform where logic flounders.'_

Eek gave Archie a long hard look as he and Squeek churred comfortingly to Morgana and began soothing her mental hurt and confusion. Setting in place the confidence that Darkwing would be true to his word and come back in only a few days after he checked on his daughter and brother. Since they both held vital emotional places in Dark's heart too it was only natural he would feel compelled to check on them, the bats carefully eased Morgana's worry as Archie used his webbing to help hold the door in place so Morgana could slide the pins back into the hinges.

The doorknocker complained all the while, "Why didn't you warn me that he could DO that? I can't be expected to ward against being deconstructed without some kind of accurate information".

Thoroughly irritated Archie snapped at Fallah, _'You have a blood mark to him Fallah! You have had some time to savor him and YOU KNOW he's not stupid or an easy mark.' _

'_It took you HOW long to get a taste of him?' _Chimed in Squeek, _'Even though he's distracted by the mistress most of you haven't even been successful at acquiring a first mark. That alone should have warned you to treat him with respect and prepare yourself for physical threats.'_

Disgusted with the bickering Eek finished all the arguing adding calmly,_ 'He didn't even have access to Mage power or direct links to the mistress OR us until we chose to save him….' _

Squeek added, _'What did you think he'd do? Kick the door, whimper and beg to be let out? The only tactics he knows are on the physical plane.'_

Archie pointed out in a much calmer tone, _'All of us need to work together and now is NO time to try and assign blame, Morgana needs us to draw him back here and the best way to do that is with a sending. he'll be most vulnerable when he tries to sleep, so be ready everyone.' _

_---_

Morgana relaxed into Drake's embrace on the bed as he finished telling Launchpad about how he'd driven back to the bridge hideout and returned to the house via the tunnel chairs.

The huge windows surrounding the tower were coated with a light filtering film to keep people from seeing when there were lights on inside the lair especially at night, but even so; from the inside the view was unobstructed and Launchpad couldn't help but notice that it was growing light outside. LP glanced unobtrusively at the time and saw that it was almost six o'clock in the morning.

Smiling he nodded and then got up from his chair, "Well DW, at least now I can understand why it upset you two so much with all the trouble you had to go through, but I'm betting that both of you feel a lot better now right?"

Surprised at this assertion Morgana and Darkwing both nodded. Drake started to move but Launchpad shook his head and gently put a hand on Drake's chest pushing him back into Morgana.

Looking uncharacteristically stern he added, "You just stay put for a while DW, I'm going to do a some maintenance on the Ratcatcher and the Thunderquack when I get back."

Looking to Archie and the bats LP said, quite as if he talked to Mage's familiars every day; "I'm counting on you three to keep them out of trouble while I'm gone."

Then to the shock of both Morgana and Darkwing all three familiars saluted Launchpad and Archie threw several loops of webbing around the two ducks to keep them on the bed. Darkwing started to move his hand and discovered that his right wrist was firmly attached to Morgana by a web strand.

Morgana blushed and admonished Archie gently, "Thank you Archie, but…"

All three familiars interrupted her, Eek and Squeek landed on the blanket and moved carefully onto Drake churring very cautiously as they snuggled reassuringly under his left hand and then crawled swiftly over to Morgana to pull her close to Drake.

He turned bright red struggling to say something coherent, while Archie hopped vigorously up and down grumbling and muttering waving three of his legs at Morgana.

She blushed such a fiery red that for a moment she felt faint as she listened to Archie scold her grumpily. She spoke softly to Drake while the bats busily moved her so Dark could hold her while he reclined on the pillow, "I can't really say anything to dispute my dearest Archie. He says that we belong together Dark darling and I have to admit that I have ached to cuddle with you for the past few days."

Launchpad smiled and nodded again looking fairly satisfied, "That should do for now, I'm going to the house and I'll be back in a couple of hours. If 'I' was here all alone with a pretty young lady that liked me as much as I liked her… I'd take advantage of this chance to spend some quality time snuggling up with her. IF it was me, you understand, and don't worry about Gos DW, I'll tell her you are at the lair and you'll be home in time for lunch."

Ignoring Drake's look of shock and dropped jaw, Launchpad smiled at Morgana reassuringly and went whistling over to the spinning chairs to promptly disappear in a spinning blue blur.

Drake turned red and stuttered, "Morg, I…Umm."

Sighing and looking a tiny bit amused and very fond she shushed him with a gentle kiss before burrowing under the green shawl and nuzzling his jaw.

Whispering she added, "It's alright Drake, I promise. Now that you aren't shutting us out and we aren't fighting what has happened, I feel ever so much better."

He tingled from his head to his toes as she continued, sounding sleepy herself; "I haven't slept well since we've been apart, I feel so safe with you Dark."

As poor bewildered Darkwing struggled to fight his way out of the death grip his hormones had on his brain, he managed to nod and tighten his arm gently around Morgana's shoulder as he cuddled next to her under the blanket.

Feeling safe and somehow complete for the first time since he couldn't remember when, he sighed and reached for the mugs of tea. Offering Morgana her cup and then sipping from his own he asked somewhat uncomfortably, "So, do Mage's familiars always play matchmaker?'

Morgana smiled at him and as Eek and Squeek replied in tandem she couldn't resist a delighted giggle as she relayed their response, "Only when they approve of the match Drake."

Surprised at this, he too laughed and relaxed against the headboard while trying to keep from spilling the tea. Archie dodged out of the way and waited out the laughter in Morgana's tangled mass of waves and curls. Her usual hairdo was hopelessly lost for the moment and in honesty Darkwing found her even more beautiful with her hair down and tumbled all around them both.

Unnoticed by either adult, Gosalyn Mallard, investigative reporter and crime fighter extraordinaire; watched stealthily from her hiding place just under the dais where the bedroom set was.

There were a series of spaces hollowed out underneath the platform to provide storage space and reduce it's weight. Gosalyn had taken over several of these and was now spying on her dad and Morgana. She kept some emergency comics, a book light, some snacks and a few of her favorite investigative tools in these secret hidey holes, just in case her dad needed some backup on a case and Launchpad was busy.

She had been there for quite a while and had heard all about her dad's having to break out of Morgana's house after he came back from her family's castle. She LOVED hearing about his adventures, they were ever so much more exciting than school. Besides, regardless of what her dad kept trying to insist; Gosalyn was sure that long division wasn't anything her dad used to fight crime. Archery and Quack Fu sure but history NOT….

She had discovered that there were holes drilled at different intervals all under the platform and several of them were conveniently placed so that she could hear very well indeed. By lying on her back and looking up through one of these she could even see a little, but after Launchpad left; watching his empty chair was not much fun at all.

Gos HAD been disappointed when she realized that she had arrived too late to hear about any of Morgana's relatives or any of the eerie and kind of creepy things that usually happened when Morgana's family was around.

After a few minutes the sounds of her Dad and Morgana talking and giggling faded and there were only quiet shifting noises and slight creak, creak sounds as the mattress shifted. Disappointed to realize that the recap of adventures was over for now, Gosalyn wiggled impatiently trying to decide what her next move should be.

She had been very worried about her dad these last few nights, when he hadn't come back home last night after tucking her in; she'd taken a short nap but had awakened around four and realized that he was staying up again.

Unable to sleep and knowing there wasn't any school on Saturday Gos had snuck into the lair while Morgana and Launchpad had been busy rescuing Squeek from the cup of chocolate.

She had been really startled when she had come out of the tunnel and seen Morgana and Launchpad; but neither of them had noticed the chair's activating because of Squeek and since her dad hadn't immediately blown a blood vessel about her being up past bedtime or being in the tower lair instead of home in bed Gosalyn had correctly deduced that he had finally succumbed to exhaustion and was asleep.

Just as Gosalyn was debating getting into her emergency stash of chocolate bars she froze in mid motion as she heard the transport chairs spinning. There was a moment of silence and then Gosalyn groaned as Launchpad ran over to the stairs that led up to the bedroom set.

He called up from the bottom of the stairs sounding worried and unhappy, "Sorry about this DW, but I went to check on Gos and I found out she's not in her room."

Gosalyn winced as she heard her Dad say, sounding tired and more than a little disappointed; "Archie, I appreciate the hint thank you…and I DO want to stay with you Morg; but Gosalyn has this habit of getting, herself into grade A, bona fide trouble whenever my back is turned and I really…."

Gosalyn heard the bed creak as Morgana moved to sit up and wrap her arms around Drake. Kissing him on the neck and speaking into the resulting quiet as Drake attempted to put his eyeballs back into their sockets and pick his jaw up off the floor(figuratively speaking of course).

Gosalyn heard Morgana say, "You mean she has your energy and spirit, don't you Dark? I love Gosalyn too Drake and I would be honored if you'd allow me to help you."

Morgana laughed gently and offered, "I want you to eat and sleep sometime today and I know you won't until all the people you love are safe. Surely Gosalyn can't have been gone long Launchpad, I'll open a portal to my house so you can get your car, and Dark and I will look for her starting from here. If that's alright with you?"

Managing to pull himself out of the stupor he'd fallen in as a result of Morgana's attentions, Darkwing nodded and didn't react as Eek landed on his turtleneck except to say, "Thanks Morg, since Gos has a head start I really didn't want to have to go get the car the long way. If you go with Morgana and get the car LP I can start the search from here and by the time you get back we should at least have a direction to start looking…."

Gosalyn watched from her peep hole and saw Morgana in a long sleeved and bell bottomed black outfit move to the edge of the bed before turning to face the mirror on the dresser. Morgana looked up as Squeek fluttered over with a hairbrush and dropped it in her hands.

She smiled and said warmly. "Thank you Squeek dear, Archie could you please; Oh Thank you…"

Morgana and her familiars swiftly braided her hair to keep it out of her way while Darkwing frankly wished that he could brush her hair for her. Sternly telling himself to get a grip and turning toward the computer console Darkwing began shaking the wrinkles out of his turtleneck and pulling on his jacket in preparation for setting out to find Gosalyn.

There were more muffled sounds as both Darkwing and Morgana went from the bed and down the stairs. Launchpad answered sounding surprisingly confident, " No problemo DW…I'll be back in about forty five minutes since it looks as though traffic is still light."

---

Lucidia Macabre wasn't really a patient woman. She knew this about herself and since she was an adult and practical, she tried to arrange things so that she could function well in spite of her shortcomings.

As she stalked her way out of the castle and into the formal gardens that were all around the interior and exterior of the castle's moat, she WAS gentle in her rebuff of Sigmund; it wasn't his fault she was angry enough to chew nails and spit out tacks after all. He drooped noticeably and whined but after exchanging nose sniffs with Kaa and Raa he went to play with his hoops and balls leaving the way to the memorial gardens open for the three of them.

She KNEW that confronting her idiot brother would have to wait until she calmed down and got over her urge to throttle him. Of all the STUPID stunts he'd thought up this HAD to be one of the most cockeyed, hair-brained, half-baked things she'd ever heard of.

This wasn't the seventeenth century after all and Morgana had been raised to think and choose for herself Monoculo may have 'conveniently ' forgotten this, but he was in for more than one unpleasant surprise if he thought that Morgana was going to tamely submit to being treated like a pawn instead of a person.

Lucidia felt her temper cool just a smidgen as she remembered the other female Macabres who had been staring daggers at the 'Lord' of the Castle.

Monoculo had been raised to the responsibility of leading the Macabre's affairs just as she had been, and until he'd lost Charity he'd been doing very well at it. Lucidia couldn't help but wonder though how much longer the trauma of that loss was going to serve as his excuse for behaving like a stubborn spoiled child.

_---_

_Okay here's the deal, I am going to post a very small chapter after this that will serve as a kind of epilog and hopefully wrap this up since I am really, really trying to keep these chapters short. Thank you for reading and please review if you want, your friend Irual. _


	7. Chapter 7

_**Disclaimer: Okay, so I am incurably long winded with the Disney owned Ducky madness that surges in my twisted head. I AM sorry about that and I hope by now everyone can guess who I made up and who is owned entirely by an empire started by a man and his mousey alter ego. (Oh come on people! You know who I mean right?) I am almost sure that this is the last bit of this story and I am sure this whole thing happens about two months or so before my fiction called Hexes & Vexes and is sort of a back story accompaniment to that one. Please read and review and remember feedback is all I get, no money or fame or copyright infringement or anything intended at all just love and reviews, your friend Irual.**_

**---**

Lucidia became conscious of the fact that the sun was beginning to lighten the eastern sky. Kaa and Raa both moved close as a fine pale mist began to rise from all around the massive monument that she'd stopped at without realizing exactly where she was.

Lucidia had been so busy fuming at the sheer idiocy of testosterone filled, power mad relatives, that she'd completely lost track of where she was. Since Kaa and Raa were with her, and they could handle anything in the gardens as far as plant-life and such were concerned; she usually used her time walking in them as a chance to think and plan and so didn't really pay a lot of conscious attention to her surroundings.

Being Mage born and a powerful seer, she didn't believe in 'coincidence' or in just random chance. She was in fact, a firm believer in the idea of destiny and of the cosmos being a planned and well ordered place; for the most part anyway. Lucidia, like most female Mage born especially; was always one to keep in mind that Fate had at least one hand turning her wheel and one eye on karmic balance as well.

Even though she believed in free will and personal choice she was still more than a little shocked to hear a hollow but distinctly familiar voice say,_ 'Already to my regret, my death has hampered Monoculo for far longer than is healthy.'_

Turning slightly Lucidia looked into the dark, gloom laden, face of the large stone that marked her brother's wife's grave and saw the ghostly figure that formed and reformed in the darkness produced by the stone's shadow.

Kaa and Raa wrapped themselves around Lucidia to support her hissing slightly in warning as the ghost moved a little closer.

Speaking gently to Kaa and Raa Charity floated a tiny bit closer and said, _'Do not fear for her…I did not stay to cause further mischief, truly…. I only want to speak with Lucidia for a brief moment_ _then my time here will beyond doubt be done.'_

Kaa and Raa readied themselves for a metaphysical fight their usual forms were like huge constrictor snakes but as they confronted the ghost they shifted to their other forms which had alternate armor, weapons and different energy in their defenses since they were apparently facing an only partially physical threat.

The two of them reared back, hissing, their hoods flared and they flashed fangs at the ghostly figure warning her in no uncertain terms that they were not taking any chances.

Charity stopped and waited while Lucidia gathered her wits and exclaimed hurriedly, "Charity, by Fate's uncaring wheel; is it really you? Why have you manifested to me? Are you under some sort of geas? "

Charity smiled but remained where she was since Kaa and Raa were still on full protection mode. _'Lucidia, I stayed in truth; because my need to be with my little girl was stronger than the call of the light, but now that has changed….She has grown into a girl to be proud of, and is making her own way in the world so I must let her go at last.' _

Charity had a distinctly furtive look on her face that was totally at odds with how she had been in life. She wavered a little and then swiftly asked,_ 'I have no right to ask, but… could you look after Morgana and her young fellow for me? I have done what I could for them, since Monoculo is being so obtuse; but with my leaving they will need an ally to withstand him intact.'_

Lucidia was struck by a sudden thought and asked accusingly, "What do you mean exactly, you have done what you could for them? Monoculo is a stubborn fool…that's true and since you died he's been most unreasonable towards Normals, but he went off the deep end tonight and acted completely without honor or thought for the consequences."

Charity paled and became transparent as she struggled with her conscience for a moment then confessed, _'When Monoculo first called me back from the journey road to the other side, I admit I was glad he had done so. It had been only a few months but already I could see how much Morgana had grown. She had called in her grief and pain and had been answered not with just one soul kin but with three…. She happily showed off Eek, Squeek and Archie to me and I was glad indeed to try and comfort my dearest Monty. He looked so careworn and full of sorrow that I thought he had called me back out of love.' _

Her eyes turned hard and her posture improved as she regained solidity and continued in a harder colder voice.

'_I truly did not consider that he would try and bind me or that his reasons were selfish…. He would not listen to my pleas and used my living child and my own ashes to bind me to remain and appear to him once every moon.'_

Lucidia flinched as Kaa and Raa hissed in fury at this confession of such a proscribed use of magic. Kaa's hood lowered a trifle as he noticed another pair of silhouettes moving into the sunlight.

One was unmistakably Boon, Charity's cat shaped familiar; and the other looked like Geier, Monoculo's own missing familiar. The large turkey vulture nodded gravely and spoke sorrowfully to Kaa and Raa who translated for Lucidia.

Geier sighed and said,_ 'greeting's brothers, It was my idea to have Charity show herself to the children while Monoculo was watching….In truth I did not consider how ruthless and unthinking my partner has become. I first left him in the hopes he would free Charity and Boon and then I could return to him, instead he has blocked my return with his stubbornness and anger.'_

Looking tired he added,_ 'I would never have endangered the normal boy intentionally, but you know what they say about the road to Hades….'_

Raa flinched sympathetically and both of them cautiously lowered their hoods but remained on guard as Lucidia's head spun with questions_._

---

As this was going on Morgana was trying to pick up the pieces of her life and figure out what she was going to do now that Dark apparently didn't trust her, or at least not her magic. As she moved down the hall, she happened on the portal that was her usual route to the Castle. Consumed with her hurt and anger she stepped through and surveyed her ancestral home with an impatient and irritated glare on her usually pretty features. Thoroughly frightened, Eek, Squeek and Archie popped through a portal and landed on their mistress.

Archie asked worriedly, _'Morgana, you aren't going to do anything rash, are you? Dark will be back….'_

Squeek added, _'Yes, I'm sure if you give him a little while to get over his fright Drake will let us help him, he's still very attracted to you. Dark only flinched because his recent memories were mixed up in his older hurts.'_

Eek fluttered above Morgana as she pointedly didn't answer her familiars and moved to the front door of the castle. Her stony expression softened as she petted Sigmund before moving over the moat. She saw her Aunt Lucidia hurrying toward her and waited for her Aunt before opening the door and going into the great hall.

Softly she answered her familiars, "Don't worry, I am angry but I won't hurt anyone I promise. I just want to be sure they leave Dark and me alone so I can heal the breach between us without anyone's interference."

They found Monoculo still in the great hall with Envy and Spite. The hall was still packed with family members who were all trying to interject their opinions and comments as they tried to object to or otherwise amend Monoculo's current scheme.

Envy glanced up and touched Spite who fell silent in the middle of trying to slow down his Uncle. They looked extremely uncomfortable and started to try and explain but Monoculo was waxing vainglorious as he outlined the dowry package and contract offer he had decided on as a starting point.

Monoculo finally realized that Envy and Spite were moving away from him looking afraid and he turned in his chair to see what had spooked them. Morgana was flummoxed as she realized what they had been discussing.

Lucidia touched Morgana on the arm and started to say, "Morgana dear, there is no need to overreact; your father is just…"

Morgana interrupted in a tone of icy fury," Listen well all of you,"

Every Macabre felt the castle respond as she held both hands above her head and a huge thunderstorm manifested covering the entire estate. She continued in that same tone, "So FATHER, you think to bind me to someone you think is WORTHY…of your blood hmmmm."

Monoculo flinched and tried to say something, "My little mushroom…"

Morgana lost all patience and pointed at him. "Still your beak you squawking buzzard. If any Macabre interferes in my choice of mate magically, or other wise from this point on; then may it come back to you three fold good and bad. Just as the laws of magic state, but SO help me…Should any of you hide bound fools ever hurt My Dark or any normal without just cause; I will call on the council to disenchant anyone involved no matter HOW remotely."

She fixed her cousins with a truly betrayed look as she pointedly added, "That includes gossip and innuendo, I will have all I can do to ensure that I get the chance to heal Dark after what he has been through. I don't need to combat rumor as well as fact."

Whirling to face the hearth she gestured and the castle itself opened a portal to her home in St. Canard that she promptly stepped through without another word to any of her now silent and stunned relatives.

---

Of course all this was something that neither Dark nor Launchpad knew about. What they DID know was Gosalyn was missing and presumably in trouble; since she had the distressing habit of landing directly in troubles vicinity at a moment's notice. As far as any of them knew, she could be anywhere in St. Canard by now and that was definitely cause for worry.

Morgana touched Darkwing's arm gently, "I know you are worried Dark but try and stay calm. I'll portal Launchpad back to your car and pick up a few things that will help us track her and be right back."

Gosalyn was listening from her hidey hole under the platform where her dad's old bedroom set was and gulped as she thought furiously trying to come up with a way to be 'found ' that didn't include her getting grounded. So far she was coming up with nothing helpful. Forcing herself to remain calm she peeked out and saw Morgana and Launchpad disappear into the portal as her dad hurried to his motorcycle.

He tried to start the engine and was shocked when nothing happened. Getting off he took a closer look and saw that the starting mechanism had been tampered with. Fuming he began to reattach the wires and such and while he was distracted Gosalyn tip toed to the transport chairs and hit the little statute that made them spin.

When they stopped spinning she sang out in a cheery tone, "Dad, can we go to breakfast at the pancake house since its Saturday?"

Turning to face his daughter Darkwing had to force himself to look stern and fatherly as his heart melted in relief at knowing she was safe, "I don't know Gos, it depends on how honest you are with me. How long have you been hiding here in the lair?"

Looking nervous Gosalyn stuttered, "Hiding? I ummm…Well see it was like this…I woke up and was worried about you since you and Launchpad weren't home so I decided to check and make sure you were okay and…"

Darkwing sighed, "Come here Gos,"

Surprised she came close and was scooped up in a hug. Darkwing continued, "I love you kiddo and I didn't mean to worry you okay?"

Anxiously Gosalyn asked, "Did you get much sleep dad?"

Sighing again Dark admitted, "Not a lot Gos, but I didn't have nightmares or anything this time."

Perking up at this Gosalyn offered, "Keen Gear Dad, do you think it's because Morgana was here with you?"

Startled Drake demanded looking into her face, "Exactly HOW long were you listening GOS and where exactly were you hiding anyway young lady?"

Since this was what Gosalyn had been hoping to avoid answering she was momentarily silent. Unhappily she admitted, "I just got close enough to hear when you were telling Launchpad about taking Morgana's door off its hinges and then after that."

Reluctantly she led him to the platform and showed him her cache of goodies and equipment and cringed waiting for him to explode. She was very surprised when he laughed instead; just then Morgana appeared in her usual red dress.

Eek and Squeek were carrying a fairly large mirror and Archie was bouncing up and down among her braids since she hadn't bothered to put her hair into its usual style.

Seeing Gosalyn safe in Drake's embrace Morgana smiled, "Hi Gosalyn, we were very worried about you." looking up into the space under the platform Morgana asked curiously, "Is this where you were hiding?"

Gosalyn nodded looking apprehensively at her dad. He smiled at Morgana and asked cautiously, " Well Morg, since we don't have to go looking for Gosalyn why don't we wait for Launchpad back at the house and have some breakfast instead. I make really good blueberry pancakes and I have some frozen blueberries at home."

Delighted to be included in the 'Normal' side of his life she smiled, "Thank you Dark darling I'd love to try your cooking."

Eek and Squeek were still struggling with the mirror until Morgana made it shrink and put it in her carryall. She pretended not to see Dark flinch just a little, but he noticed the hurt in her eyes and went to get her green shawl.

Folding it carefully he took a deep breath smelling her potion mixed with their scents and forcing himself to smile naturally he offered, "I really don't mind the magic I know it's an important part of you Morg. I just need a little time to get over my hang ups."

Gosalyn perked up her ears at this and started to ask about that but she was distracted by her dad's next words.

Shyly offering Morgana back her shawl he offered a little hesitantly, "Do you want to take the transport chairs to the house or use one of your portals?"

Gosalyn bounced excitedly, "Keen GEAR! Can we please use a magic door? PLEASE?"

Looking at Drake who nodded firmly, Morgana smiled at the excited duckling, "I don't want to upset your father Gosalyn dear, maybe we should…"

Drake interrupted with a determined look on his face, "It's okay Morg, I just need to get used to magic not hurting that's all, besides a door will be fun."

He swallowed hard but the three of them stepped through the portal she made and into Drake's kitchen without incident. Drake hurried and managed to have the pancakes mixed up and cooking as Launchpad arrived home. Drake did make Gosalyn apologize for scaring LP and Morgana but all in all breakfast was a great success.

-----

_This is it, as far as I know I hope everyone likes it and that it explains some of the thing's I reference in Hexes & Vexes please read and review if you are so inclined. Also be sure and check out my BFF barb's pictures of the Original characters on deviant arts her name there is Chibibarb. _


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